Tales of a Mars Sentry
by ElectroGale
Summary: An anthology of short (or long) stories about the titan Zahir-2. From rez to post Red War. Everything that happens here takes place before my other book, Ambition's End. Be sure to check that out, as that's where my efforts are now!
1. A Titan's Calling

A rookie stumbled in, his armor ravaged by arc. His scout rifle clattered to the floor, nearly cut in half by a shock blade. As his ghost healed him and repaired his armor, he spoke, leaning against the door that lead to the hellstorm outside.

"They're gonna break through the wall. It's your turn." He uttered, his heavy breathing covered by the thundering echoes of battle.

We knew exactly what to do. I nodded to my comrades. We were made for this. Chatter filled the room once more as we started betting on how many Fallen we'd kill.

"You ready to pop skulls?" Yllur asked, the massive, blue clad titan punching my arm.

"Aye, never been more." I punched the titan I admired back. I slung my auto rifle over my shoulder and made my way to the door. We stepped out of the wall to see the mess the Fallen had made of our city. Walkers slowly lurched their way toward the wall as hundreds of Fallen charged. Guardians backpedaled by the masses. Protecting those guardians and building a new front was our job.

"Let's go! Remember the line order!" Yllur yelled. Our team cheered, sprinting along the length of the wall. Flashes of purple light filled the battlefield as we ran to reinforce the city. I made my way to my own position, leaping into the air. I willed void energy into my arms, expanding it from my chest to my fingertips. I felt the calming of the void begin to wrap itself around me. I descended, thrusting my arms out. The void left me as soon as it came, creating a swirling barrier. My ward of dawn.

Two guardians rush in. A hunter, in obvious need of time to heal, and another titan. The Fallen are about a hundred meters out. I take a peek outside, aiming down my auto rifle. I drop back in after a mag. A couple of vandals and a dreg. Not bad.

The Fallen are approaching fast. We brace ourselves, ready for the onslaught. A vandal leaps into me, waiting to plunge his shock blade into my armor. I sidestep it, cracking his skull with an empowered punch. A couple of dregs are up next. I mow them down with my auto rifle, taking a few scratches to my arm. I hear the guardians to my sides fighting. The hunter, fully healed, is expertly fending off shock weaponry with his knife, while the titan to my right takes out Fallen after Fallen with a shotgun. Yep, they had no idea what they were walking into. I look down to my right. As expected, a long line of bubbles dots our front, stopping the Fallen in their tracks.

As I take out another Vandal, a shadow looms over the ground. I look up. God damn it, those crazy pirates have really done it now. A walker hangs above from a skiff, its legs splay out menacingly. Turret fire peppers the helm of the skiff as the walker prepares to drop.

"Run! I tell the titan and hunter, but they're already gone. They've been calling after me. I guess I got too wrapped up in the heat of battle. That walker's already coming down.

Oh well.

"-you… have any idea… how stupid that was?"

Yllur's standing over me, a fresh ward of dawn covering us. He's got me by the chestplate, shaking me as I feel my body re-enter the world. I don't know what happened, but we're several meters from the walker.

He notices my confusion. "You dumbass, you let that walker crush you! You had no idea what was going on!"

"So? I can come back as many times as I need. Ye don't need to act like I'm some mortal-"

"We're in a dangerous place, Uxar. Your ghost could be shot, in the hands of some grubby Captain, or in your case," he pointed to a Vandal laying next to the walker, its own shock blade plunged into its chest.

"Snuck up on by a walker's crew."

I stand up, contemplating my now realized near death experience. A shot from the walker's main cannon rattles our dome. Yllur hauls his rifle up, slamming its stock into the head of a charging Dreg.

"We have to move. This ward of dawn's not going to last much longer."

He was right. The fortress of void energy was beginning to rip, providing a window to the unshrouded, non-purple view outside. I look out. We're being pushed back further, and the Fallen don't seem to be stopping anytime soon, dotting the surface of the battlefield like ants. Gunfire crackles through the air where ships soar, muffled by the Ward of Dawn's presence.

My view is interuppted by a Vandal, screeching as it grabs me by the shoulders. I get the thing out of my face with a punch, finishing it with my auto rifle. Ylurr and I jump out, but it seems that walker had its eye on us for a while. It had gotten dangerously close, looming right next to our bubble. I hear its main cannon groaning. It launches, vaporizing Yllur in an instant. I'm hit by the shrapnel and flung to the side by the explosion, which rattles my ears.

I land on my side, giving me a blackened view of Yllur's ghost being shredded to pieces by the walker's Captain, cackling as it launches volley after volley from its shrapnel launcher.

In stunned silence, I stagger up. My hand moves on its own, crawling up over my shoulder, and gripping my sniper rifle tight. I take aim at the Captain. It's stepping on the shattered shell of Yllur's ghost.

Absolutely disgusting.

A round from my rifle rips through the air, zipping clean through the Captain's helmet.

The walker begins shuffling toward me, spinning up its arc cannons. The motoric dissonance pierces my ears.

I tell my ghost to get my machine gun. He responds, letting it into my hands. I pull the belt over, loading it. I face the walker. I imagine every Vandal, every Dreg in there, staring at me from behind the multiple sensors on its face. Jeering at me for killing their putrid Captain.

Aye, I wish I could tell Yllur to forgive me, that trying to impress him was probably the worst idea to cross my mind, but it's much too late for that. I've got a disgusting metal spider to focus on. It's either me or them, and I don't intend to lose.

_Hi! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest. Be sure to check out my other, more linear story, Ambition's End! I also have a Discord where I put extras, archive a lot of stuff, and I notify people of new chapter releases. DM for details!_


	2. Awakening

"That's... a problem." Crucius said, looking over an arm sticking out of a block of ice. The green metal of the arm rapidly reflected the sun's light around the cave, struggling around, before grasping the surface of the block, doing its best to push its way out.

Floating around the arm, Crucius heard muffled screaming from in the ice. "Yipe!" The ghost piped, floating back, "I better fix this quick." He extended his shell, glowing a brilliant blue from the core. He saw the hand dissolve into streams of white, along with the distorted rest of the body it belonged to. The exo rematerialized above the ice, screaming in terror as he fell to the ground. Realizing that he was no longer trapped, he looked up at the ghost, shivering.

Crucius got an odd feeling after seeing his guardian look up at him. Confused, weakened, scared. The truth was, Crucius was scared too, but in a different way. He felt a sort of urge to protect the exo laying in front of him.

Crucius' eye darted backward, then to the exo. "So, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Crucius. It appears your name is..." Crucius scanned the exo's shoulder, who had began standing up. "Zahir-2. Welcome back. Judging from your date of conception, it looks like you died about 300-400 years ago, in this cave. I've brought you back, but you don't have your memories."

Zahir stared at Crucius blankly.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Crucius asked, secretly disappointed. He had been alone for so long-

Zahir tentatively pointed at his throat, namely, a scratched and corroded section of it.

"Ah, I see. The ice must have damaged your voice. Hold tight." Crucius said, as a stream of silky light flowed from him to the exo, covering up Zahir's wounded throat. Zahir coughed, shocked at the sensation of being healed, his throat being filled with what wasn't there. "Thanks, but I think I've had enough time to understand what's going on. Why did you bring me back to life, though?" Zahir asked.

"My destiny is to seek out a warrior capable of wielding the traveler's light, and aid them in saving humanity from its enemies." Crucius replied, spinning his shell.

"I was... chosen?"

Crucius began to worry that he was overwhelming Zahir. He hadn't really thought about what he would say when he found his guardian. "Listen, Zahir. We may never know why the traveler chose you, but I knew that you were the one the moment I passed by your corpse. I sensed a courageous spirit in you, a noble being." Crucius explained, while beginning to form light armor around Zahir.

Zahir took note of his new getup, materializing around him, and finishing with a helmet.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it." Zahir said.

"Just know that I'm here to support you. All the wa-"

Crucius was interrupted by a thrall stumbling into the cave room that was once Zahir-2's tomb. Scattered chunks of ice dotted its body.

"Oh no, reviving you must have thawed some of the hive out." Crucius frantically explained. He didn't want his newly born guardian to have to engage in combat right out of the gate, but he couldn't recall Zahir back to the ship until they escaped the ice caves.

"I'm guessing this is an enemy of humanity?" Zahir asked as the thrall took notice of the pair, throwing its legs toward Zahir as fast as it could. Zahir raised his fists, sending a heavy fist crashing into the thrall's head as it ran into him. The thrall stumbled back, but not after having managed to rake one of its claws across Zahir's chest. Zahir, not used to pain, clutched his wound, bending down. Crucius watched Zahir shake his head, reeling his fist back for another punch. Except this time, Zahir's fist was propelled by a brilliant flash of arc energy, striking the thrall and sending it dissolving into nothing as it let out a hollow scream. Crucius' eye lit up. "Great job!" He exclaimed, as Zahir looked at his hand, tilting his head. "You've already started harnessing arc energy!"

Crucius heard harsh footsteps against ice behind him again, meeting a couple of more thrall and an acolyte, peering upon Zahir with its green, cold eyes.

"I hope you know what to do." Crucius said to Zahir, who raised his fists again. Crucius was filled with joy. He already felt it. He had made the right choice.


	3. Pirate Hunting

I call upon the ol' goldie again, raising my hand. I feel my chest swell up as my body is filled with the heat of the sun. That familiar shape manifests. I aim down, the flames licking my entire body, and shoot three clean cuts through the roof of the ship, flicking my goldie to create streaks. The lines are in a neat little disjointed triangle. I'm glad I practiced sweeping my goldie shots. Somehow, it just works, and that's all that matters. The metal briefly melts around the cuts, then stops. Not like there was anything to melt them anymore.

I hear someone down there. Sounds like he put his back to the wall, so he's definitely armed. Crap, I gotta hurry. I start kicking the ceiling in near the lines, and it rewards me by giving in. Perfect. Like a pop out sheet, I keep stomping near the perforations I've made with my goldie. Almost done. I hear Fallen chattering and men yelling next to the ship. I keep stomping. The Fallen leave on their skiff. Lucky for me, they've already gotten paid. Doesn't matter to them what happens to these guys. That's how the Fallen work.

I finally kick an entrance open, stepping back as several arc bullets barely miss me. They've already gotten their hands on the Fallen's guns.

My comms kick in. "Remember, don't kill them."

"I know, I know. Don't get your pants in a twist. Though, they may get roughed up real bad." I say back, closing the channel. Don't need anyone distracting me, they can sit back and enjoy the show.

I try to peek down. Another barrage of bullets. I swing back to avoid 'em, and see a hatch over to my left. Damn, if only I'd seen that.

I'm not about to change my method of entry, though. I spent a pretty long time making that hole, and it isn't going to waste. I've got an incendiary in my hand, ready to roll. I hear yelling and a rush of feet as it goes down. Perfect. I wait for the detonation and hop in.

It's a pretty shoddy ship. Dim. I'm in a corridor, its walls cluttered with wires and pipes. To be expected of a pirate ship. Mine looks way better. I ready a knife. One of the pirates comes through the door at the end of the hall. I'm still covered in smoke. I bring the knife behind my head, looking carefully at his silhouette through the smoke. I point at my target for good measure, and let the knife fly. It lands right on the barrel of his shiny new shock rifle. Have fun shooting that!

I run toward him, and I can see him more clearly. He's dressed in some shoddy plating, no helmet. For the life of me, I can't understand why some people go out into the wild without helmets. Looking at you, Vanguard. I see him reach to his side. He's got a shock blade. Just how many arms did the Fallen give these guys? I step back so I can kick him in the hand. I broke his fingers, perfect. One blow to the head and he's out. I got him sailing back through the door to send his friends a message, though, I'm not sure how I'll pull this off. I look back and see the metal sheet I kicked out to get in here. Guess I'll be a titan for a minute.

I drive a burning knife through the metal. It digs deep, melting into it. It's about a third of the size of a Cabal shield. It'll do.

This thing's heavy. I should've used two knives to hold it, but it's a bit too late to be changing my plans. The pirates have started stepping out and shooting. I'm able to block most of the shots, until I take a few to the leg. It stings, causing me to stumble over. Screw it. If they want to play like that, I'll bite. I unclip a sidearm. Haake. Propped up against the makeshift shield, I peek out, taking out their gun arms one by one with each pull of the trigger. Finally, the shooting stops, replaced by groans of pain. My leg's healed. I step out, ready to finish them.

They didn't stand a chance. I left them all unconscious in the hall. Before I can get to the cabin, the ship starts to lift off. Great. Don't they know they're taking precious cargo with them (me)? I look around, spotting the jackpot. Behind me, at the opposite end of the hall, is a door labelled "engine room". I rip it open, calling my goldie again. I step back behind the door frame, take aim through the flaming sights, and shoot.

One.

The shot rips through the boiler. Steam goes everywhere.

Two.

My head hurts from all the rumbling.

Three.

The engine room starts to spark. That's my cue. I shut the door and get ready to leave through my hole.

"Wait!" My ghost says, gesturing to the pirates on the ground. Ugh, talk about dirty work. I reluctantly get them all through the door at the opposite end of the hall, shutting it too. The ship's really shaking, it's descending rapidly. Cleaning up took a while. I should check on the engine room.

As soon as I turn my head, I see the engine room door flying straight at me as an explosion booms through the air, and everything fades to black.

Ghost revives me, and it's like coming out of water, like always. Wonder if it's the same for anyone else? I see a lot of blood on the walls. My blood. That must've been brutal, and hilarious. The ship's stopped shaking. We must've crashed. I pull the engine room door off of myself, standing up. The back of the ship's completely blown up, exposing the yellow tinted scenery of the Ishtar Sink through a twisted metal opening. I admire my handiwork for a second, before coming to my senses.

"Move in for arrest." I say, checking back into my comms.

I hear heavy footsteps behind me.

"Don't move in, give me a second."

I turn around. A titan has opened the door. He's dressed in grey and red, like the pirates.

"So." I say in surprise, "they had a guardian?"

"Don't call me guardian, and put your hands up." He growls, aiming his shrapnel launcher at me, slowly walking toward me. I comply. "Listen, hunter. This trade cost us a lot, and was very dangerous. Let's make a deal. You leave us alone, and I won't kill you, then blast your ghost to bits."

I look to the side, my face meeting the pipes on the wall. Not exactly sure how I'll get out of this. He's pretty much right in front of me, where a single shot will kill. I can tell he isn't lying. He'll kill me without a second thought. I look back and see the flames of his gun rise and dissipate in front of his helmet.

Wait. Flames. I look back to my side, at the pipes. I've got an idea, but it'll be really risky.

"Let me repeat myself. Do we have a deal?" The titan repeated, menacingly.

"I heard you, I heard you." I say, slipping a knife into my left palm from my sleeve.

"No deal." I throw myself at the wall, stabbing one of the pipes open. Gas starts filling the room. I stumble back as he misses me, the flaming shrapnel from his launcher peppering the pipes. I dive behind the shield I made earlier, barely managing to curl into a ball as the gas ignites. The entire ship shakes, then settles once more. I've really done a number on the thing.

I rise, looking over at a hall of twisted piping. The titan's ghost is open, over his body, and turned away from me. Huge mistake. I leap over, grabbing the ghost's with both hands. Its open shell follows as I tumble to the ground.

"Obviously, I can't let a rogue guardian live." I say to his ghost, trembling in my palms.

The ghost replies, muffled. "I can bring him back to the light. I know I can." It's a voice of desperation. One I've heard before.

I sigh, loosening my grasp. "Have you ever heard the tale of Dredgen Yor? The warlords?"

"I have."

"Your guardian here, he's too far gone. Power's a pretty unstable thing for the mind. I'm sure you understand that."

"He could turn out different."

"He can't. I heard it in his voice. He's lost, and no titan that ruthless is gonna change."

The ghost looked down, still in my hands.

"Look, I know it may be hard, but you have to leave your guardian. Join the network, a ghost can still make itself useful."

"But-"

"Or, it can make a nice necklace for some Fallen." I say, forcing myself to shine with solar energy.

He definitely got the message. After calling the Vanguard, I lay the titan out to rest. Least I could do for that poor ghost.


	4. A Trophy

"Zahir... why?" Crucius asked as Zahir knelt over his bounty, lifting the massive boomer out of the Knight's disintegrating corpse.

"Oh, uh, do you remember what Uxar said last week? When we visited his place?"

"Uhh..." Crucius thought. Uxar had taken Zahir to his place to show some of his arsenal off. The details were blurry, but he could remember one moment.

"What's that on your wall?" Zahir asked, pointing to the hollow helmet of a House of Devils captain.

"That," Uxar began, "was the helmet of a real piece of shit."

Zahir chuckled awkwardly.

"Though, if you really want to know, he was a captain that I tracked for weeks. I thought I had cornered him in a cave, but I was wrong. He knew I was following him. He was pretty high up, so he had a large crew.

In the end, I got out of there with his head, two of my favorite guns, broken, and the humiliation of multiple deaths."

"How many?" Zahir asked, leaning in closer.

"Aye, too many to admit, man." Uxar joked, punching Zahir in the arm.

"Ah, yeah! A trophy!" Crucius exclaimed, his eye blinking.

"Yep, and this knight was definitely a piece of-"

Zahir was interrupted by a swift pelt to the side by a wire rifle.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones hunting this Knight." Crucius said, dissolving into hiding.

Zahir grunted, hauling his way across the snow into a building. The old metal groaned against his back as he reloaded his pulse rifle.

Zahir whipped out, sending five bursts back at the hill. He heard the sound of ether spewing out of a Fallen's body before he turned back into his metal cover.

Before he could reload again, several wire rifle bolts tore through the metal behind him, sending sickening creaks into the air. Zahir yelled, dissolving into sparks of arc.

Zahir gasped as Crucius summoned him out of the air. He stumbled forward, turning to run out of his useless cover and into a rock.

"You got a plan?" Crucius inquired as arc shots cracked against the rock.

"Yeah..." Zahir answered, panting, "if they want Hive, I'll give 'em Hive."

Zahir unstrapped the boomer from his belt, stepping out of cover.


	5. Zahir's Fireteam

Zahir let his shotgun tear through a vandal, before dropping it to punch a charging dreg. He whipped out a pulse rifle, landing two bursts into a captain, whose shield had been taken off by the warlock's fiery palm. The hunter was off in the distance, mowing through a squad of Devils with an auto rifle. Zahir spotted a stealth vandal skittering up behind him, but before he could utter a warning through his comms, the vandal was dispatched by a round from the warlock's sniper rifle.

Zahir caught up to the hunter, scolding him.

"Hey, listen. I know you're a competent hunter, but this is a strike operation. We're put in a fireteam for a reason, and that's to watch each other's backs. So please, try to stick closer to us."

"Hey, listen, titan. I didn't ask to be put in a fireteam, nor did I ask for your comments on everything I do." The hunter mocked, poking Zahir's chestplate. His voice cut through the snowy wind like his knife, which he had just removed from a Devil captain.

The titan grabbed Kale's arm, pulling him away. "We have a protocol, and completely disregarding Fallen comms that we should be scavenging is not part of it." Zahir flipped a small device in the air, catching it in his hand.

"Who gives a damn? The Devil Kell's dead! There's nothing we could possibly need to know about 'em." The hunter sighed, throwing his arms in the air.

"And just to reiterate, you're being reckless, getting way ahead of us. You're putting yourself in real danger."

"Well if I die, you'll have no trouble at all reviving me. We're going!"

Kale stormed off into the crashed Ketch, leaving Zahir and the warlock behind on the deck.

The warlock shrugged, letting Zahir lead their way. The hunter had already disappeared behind a door in the Ketch, and the sound of shock rifles could be heard from within.

When Zahir reached the door, it didn't open as other Fallen doors did.

"What the hell? Didn't that hunter just go through here?" Zahir asked, pounding on the door. The room behind was silent. Zahir's head began to fill with worry, as he pounded on the door harder. He turned back to the warlock.

"Stand back." He demanded, taking a few steps away from the door. He let himself lift into the air, raising a single fist above his head. He felt all of his being travel up into his knuckles in the form of arc energy, and propelled himself into the door. It instantly broke apart, letting out a sickening creak as splinters of metal flew around the dim hallway beyond.

The titan and warlock were met with a confusing scene. About a dozen Devils lay dead around the hall. The hunter was nowhere to be found, yet the only other door was welded shut from inside the hallway. To the side, in front of a Fallen cache, something caught Zahir's eye. A Fallen welding tool lay on the ground.

He took off his glove, putting a hand to the alien tool's fuel compartment.

"Still hot. I think I know why the door was shut." He muttered, standing back up. "Listen, this is really fishy, so I think we should be on our guard." Zahir called back to the warlock, "and uh, I think it'd be best if I called you by your name. What was it again?"

"Heather." The warlock answered, offering her hand to shake. The fireteam had not taken time to introduce themselves, as Kale insisted they hurry. "I believe the hunter's name is Kale-8." She continued, as the two shook hands.

"Kale-8, Heather, okay. Let's get to the bottom of this." The duo continued to search the room, as four glaring red eyes spied on them from above.

"I don't get it, where could Kale have gone?" Zahir asked, throwing his hands in the air. "You got any ideas, Heather?" Zahir trailed off as he turned around. Heather was nowhere to be found. He looked around to no avail, before hearing an all too familiar sound coming from the ceiling.

"A fusion grenade?!" Zahir yelled, stepping back as more chunks of metal were blasted onto the floor in front of the broken Fallen door. Zahir looked up, seeing a broken vent from beyond the smoke. "Ah, she stuck a fusion grenade into the vent before leaving. But why did she leave?"

Zahir lifted into the vent, grasping onto the edge of the opening with his arms. Loud bangs echoed throughout the shaft as Zahir squeezed through, and grew silent as he met a fork.

"Heather's hand cannon?" Zahir went left, grasping a black and red hand cannon as he crawled on.

Zahir punched his way through a sealed airlock and met an exit, falling into the Russian snow outside the Ketch. He shook his head, snow falling off of his helmet as he spotted a large, red figure beyond the snowstorm. He ran over to see Kale and Heather tied up, their ghosts in the left two hands of an oddly dressed captain standing among his crew. The Fallen chittered as the captain rolled the ghosts around his claws, laughing.

Zahir was on the move immediately, taking his pulse rifle off of his back, before shaking his head and putting his shotgun in his hands instead. The Fallen were in a small indent in the ground, next to the Ketch. Suddenly, Crucius' voice filled Zahir's comms.

"Careful, this captain isn't a Devil. He's rogue, and he's made a name for himself. "Tivik, Guardian Killer.""

"Don't worry, I've already got a plan." Zahir aimed his shotgun at the end of a large net holding several Fallen caches. The other end of the net was positioned right over Tivik's crew. The net came swinging into the Fallen as Zahir shot, bashing Tivik and burying him in the snow as several of his crew were pummeled by flying caches. Zahir dashed in, scooping up the dropped ghosts, who had suppressive Fallen tech stuck onto them. As he sent buckshots into the oncoming Fallen. He grabbed the guardians by their bounds, dragging them over a hill with a single arm. He sent Crucius to untie them, setting the ghosts down as he continued to fend off the Fallen.

As Heather and Kale rejoined the fight, Tivik roared in anger, recalling his dwindling crew as they scrambled into the pine forest nearby. Zahir managed to blow Tivik's lower right leg off before the captain escaped into the trees.

Zahir dropped his machine gun into the snow, tired. Kale looked over at Zahir, dropping his gun as well. Breaking the silence, as Heather crossed her arms, she spoke expectantly.

"Don't you have something to apologize for, Hunter?"

Kale's faceplates mimicked a grimace. "Why does it matter that I got myself in trouble? This titan here saved the day, and that's all that matters, right?", turning his back on the fireteam, Kale walked off with his ghost, leaving Heather and Zahir in the snowstorm.

"Oh, uh, I meant to give you this earlier, sorryyy..." Zahir froze with his hands in front of him, clutching the hand cannon as Heather took off her helmet. Her medium length brown hair poured out of her helmet, already beginning to dot with snow. Her face was plain, but was one that Zahir gawked at under his helmet.

"Oh, sorry. My helmet gets stuffy, but I don't want to cut my hair." Heather went, straightening her locks. "Thanks, I'm glad you got my hints so fast." She plucked her hand cannon from Zahir's hands, sliding it into a holster as Zahir awkwardly held up his machine gun for transmat.

"No problem." Zahir replied quietly.

"Oh, your armor has some big dents in it. Unghostable damage?" Heather asked, poking Zahir's helmet.

"Oh uh, yeah. That was from the fusion... grenade..."

"I'm sorry about that. Fortunately, I polish armor for people, and I'd be happy to buff up your helmet in exchange for helping me out back there. I'll send you my details when I get to my ship." She explained, putting her helmet back on after tying up her hair.

"Yeah, I've gotta go quick, so I can fill out a report on that captain." Zahir blurted, pulling Crucius out for transmat. Zahir blurted, pulling Crucius out for transmat. He was getting more and more fidgety by the second.

Zahir slumped in his cockpit, loading up a blank document. He sighed, typing "Tivik, Guardian Killer Field Report" in the header. As he typed, Crucius leaned close.

"I know exactly what's going on."

And that was the first time Zahir dared to swat at his ghost.

"Listen, titan, uh-"

"Zahir."

"Yeah, of course. So, y'know, Zahir, after the whole Ketch incident, I got to thinking…" Kale-8 rubbed his hands around each other, looking to the side. Zahir waited, patiently. Kale's ghost appeared at his side, whispering unintelligibly to him.

Kale continued. "I'm, uh, I'm s-sorry for how I acted back there, I was being a real asswipe, even though you saved my life. I owe ya."

"It's all good." Zahir replied, holding out his hand. Kale grasped it, and the two shook firmly.

Kale pulled back his hand, breathing a sigh of relief. "There's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. Remember that freaky captain that took us?" He asked, seemingly more relaxed.

"Yeah, Tivik, the Guardian Killer."

"I'm pretty pissed off at that ugly bug almost killing me, so I wanted to ask you if we could team up and track 'im down. I know you're a pretty big shot Vanguard scout."

"You're asking me for help?"

"I know! I know! Me, a hunter that barely does any Vanguard work, wants help. But after he got the jump on me, I do NOT want to go against Tivik unprepared. It's just self preservation. I guess you rubbed off on me a little bit." Kale waved his finger at Zahir.

Zahir pondered for a moment, before lighting up. "I know, how about we talk about this over lunch? I'll pay."

"Sounds good to me. And, hey, if you got anyone else that can help us, how about you give 'em a call?"

"Will do."

"So, Eltanin is off on a meditation camp, Lacer has a crucible tournament, and pretty much the entire team is busy." Zahir sighed, putting down his tablet.

"You'll have to settle for it just being you and him." Crucius teased, floating above Zahir as he flopped onto his bed.

"No way, that hunter may have been able to come clear about messing up, but it doesn't mean he won't mess up again. As much as I want to bash Tivik's head in, we definitely need a bigger fireteam than two."

Crucius drifted to Zahir's tablet, scanning the screen as tabs and files flew by.

"I know someone."

Zahir looked over his shoulder at the tablet.

"Oh, uh, you know, it's fine if we take two, I'll just make sure to be extra careful. Zahir said, taking up the tablet.

"Come on, we're going."

"Oh, come on Cruciu-" Zahir was cut off by Crucius finishing his transmat.

"So, you came. I was beginning to get worried that you'd keep going out there with that messy armor." Heather said, as Zahir walked through the door to her shop, bathed in the glow of warm orange lights. Several stations of armor set on mannequins lay in a row along the wall, breathing color into the room.

"Yes, I normally don't care to look my best, but my ghost here loves to worry."

Zahir saw out of the corner of his eye what could only be a ghost's scowl from Crucius.

"Okay, if I could see your helmet and chest piece for a moment."

Zahir handed his helmet over from under his arm, and began unbuckling his chestplate. The shiny orange gleamed as it folded over his arm.

Heather set the chestpiece and helmet on a fixed mannequin, wheeling a cart of cleaning equipment across the orange tiled floor. Zahir watched closely as she began tirelessly buffing the dents in Zahir's helmet. Soon, Zahir worked up the courage to speak.

"Hey, you know that captain that captured you?"

"Of course I do. It was a near-death experience that happened less than a week ago. Why?"

"Would you like to join us in tracking him down?"

Heather stopped her arm, pushing back a smile.

"I would love to."


	6. A Day at the Tower

2 Days Before Twilight Gap

Crucius tilted sideways, as if confused.

"Uhm... Zahir... I think we're done here..."

Zahir-2 looked from the postmaster back to his ghost, leaning on the counter. "Oh, right. What were we gonna do next?"

"Pick up some bounties."

"Right, right."

Zahir strolled from the postmaster's tent up to Xander's station. A busy looking Uxar gave Zahir a nod, running from tower North to the hangar. Zahir waved back and continued on.

"Let's see here... a pike gang on the moon, we can do that. A summoner wizard's there too. A rogue squad leader centurion, I guess I could- never mind, it's on Mars. I think that's all we'll be doing today, Xander." Zahir said, as Crucius downloaded the bounty information. "Could you give Heather and Kale a ring? Wait for me at the railing in case they get here before me. I'm going to go to tower North to get a burger."

"No problem" Crucius replied, floating over to the railing of the tower, watching ships dock as Zahir ran left.

Crucius enjoyed days like these. Days off, when Zahir had no scouting missions from Cayde. Zahir often took up a couple of bounties and spent time with his guardian friends, who were not a part of his scouting team.

"I don't know how to describe it." Crucius thought to himself, "It's like a mix of happiness and pride. I just feel good."

Crucius watched Kale-8's ship dock as Kale transmatted out, seeing Crucius and waving. Crucius shook his shell back.


	7. Zahir's Journal - Twilight Gap

I woke up again, gasping for air as dirt fell of off my helmet. I gripped my scout rifle tight, bringing myself to my knees. Every joint in my body screamed at me, but I wouldn't stop. Uxar needed me. I looked along the scorched earth that was the outer wall. A fallen walker lumbered toward a turret that was being overrun by devils. I threw the battered dreg clawing at my chestplate off of me, sending a round into its chest. It hissed as the life drained from its eyes.

With all my willpower, I began to sprint toward the doomed turret. My throat felt tight. Would Uxar be okay? Were any of us going to be okay? I threw a million questions around my head. I didn't know if the city would even survive. My throat grew tighter as a stepped on a hunter's corpse. More proof that the fallen were overwhelming us.

I was almost to the turret. I could make it.

The fallen walker sent one last rocket into the turret, causing it to crumble into pieces. As I turned my head away from the explosion, I heard the sound of a titan's lift. Uxar shot out of the falling turret, his fist raised above his head, crackling in a ball of mighty arc energy. He flung himself toward the walker, incinerating it and all of the fallen around it in a maelstrom of arc light.

He rose from the ruined remains of the walker, noticing me and giving me a thumbs up as he pulled out his ghost to give a report. I gave him one back. In that moment, I felt something new. A sort of feeling that told me everything was going to be okay.

Before I could reach him though, a massive fallen came crawling out of the walker's turret, blindingly fast, like a snake out of a sewer. It struck out its arm, flinging Uxar off of the walker and into a pile of rubble, leaving his ghost floating in the air, wondering what the hell happened. The fallen scooped up Uxar's ghost like a tennis ball, crushing it.

I watched in horror as a gang of vandals picked him up and held him in front of the massive fallen. I couldn't make it in time. I didn't see it happen, or maybe I didn't want to look.

That was it. My mentor, the first man I could really call a friend, was split down the middle by some random Archon.

That was the day I learned that nobody's safe. The day I had hope again and lost it again. The day I learned even guardians are subject to foul play. That everything changes, whether I may like it or not.


	8. Zahir's First Student

"I won't lie, I definitely wasn't expecting my student to be a warlock." Zahir looked at the warlock with his arms crossed. She hid her face behind her helmet, part of her basic warlock garb.

"Sorry, that wasn't the best way to introduce myself." Zahir apologized after the silence that followed his previous comment, "I'm Zahir-2." He held his hand out to the warlock, who was looking down.

"I'm Eltanin." She said rather quietly, raising her head and taking his hand.

"How long have you been rezzed?"

"How long? By now it must have been…" She silently conversed with her ghost. "Five months."

"Huh? That long?" Zahir looked Eltanin up and down, stunned, "Your gear doesn't say five months to me. We need to get you some new armor and weapons."

Eltanin looked back down. She lightly held her stomach.

"Are you hungry? We should probably grab a bite to eat first. If you'd like, I'll cook something up for you." Zahir waved her over.

"You're not like him." Eltanin whispered.

"Huh?"

Crucius's voice filled Zahir's head. "Sorry, I didn't finish reading her profile to you."

A pause. Crucius whispered something unintelligible before continuing.

"PREVIOUS MENTOR (PHOROS-5)'S NOTES:

-The warlock Eltanin seems to have an affinity for solar light. As an opponent of the teachings of the Praxic, I will be conditioning her to use arc energy.

-She is skilled with most primaries, but she has difficulty handling auto rifles. This presents a clear issue in her combat capability.

-Despite my teachings, she does not seem to be able to sustain herself in battle as long as I. Her armor is less than stellar, but I expect more when fighting small Fallen gangs.

VANGUARD INVESTIGATION REPORT

SOURCES: WARLOCK ELTANIN, MEMBERS OF PHOROS-5'S STRIKE TEAM (OPERATION BASSOON)

Four months after being assigned as Eltanin's mentor, we learned that the warlock Phoros-5 was taking most of their pay for himself, as evident by their mission history and glimmer accounts. After interviewing Phoros-5's strike members, we learned the following: When she did something wrong in the slightest, he would yell at her and attack her, dismissing his actions with the fact that guardians can regenerate pain. Along with the collected notes on his student, we saw his actions as a blatant misuse of power and promptly exiled him from the city."

Zahir looked back over at Eltanin. He now saw through her helmet. Behind the facade of a silent, unmoving warlock was a broken and abused soul.

"I understand you may not trust me, but I'll promise you this: You will get paid. You will be able to eat, that's something you should undoubtedly have, and I will facilitate your growth as a guardian at a pace you can keep up with. You can forget about that scumbag. Zahir extended his arm once more, "Follow me. Your career as a guardian begins now."

Eltanin looked back up. In place of the dark, overpowering visage of a dreadful warlock was a titan that wanted only the best for her. She was still confused and lost after 5 months of being in the strange world she awoke to, but Zahir broke the barriers that Phoros-5 had nailed onto her mind.

"Okay."


	9. A Change of Plans

"So, Eltanin, Zahir, you two are here because we have found an opening for a warlock mentor." The tower secretary said, from behind her desk. Eltanin sat in her seat, upright and restless.

Eltanin's eyes widened under her helmet. She turned her surprised gaze toward her mentor. Zahir remained firm.

"So, we'll be assigning you to study and learn under a new teacher. That is all."

Eltanin let out a whimper.

"Hm? Is there something you want to know, Eltanin? We have all of your mentor's details ready to be sent to you, so there is no need for questions. We will be informing your new teacher that we have found a student for them as soon as you leave."

"No, it's nothing." Eltanin let out, her voice choked.

Zahir set a forlorn glance toward Eltanin. He could tell she was devastated, but was there anything he could do? He felt like it was for the best if she studied under a fellow warlock.

"Zahir, I'm sure you're happy to hear that you no longer must mentor. You may now go back to leading your scouting team, full time."

"Y-yes, I'm sure my team will be happy to hear that."

"If there are no further questions, you two are dismissed." The secretary finished, turning to look at her monitor.

The guardians walked out of the Vanguard hall, Eltanin looked at the floor as she walked.

Zahir broke the silence. "Hey, uh, I know I'm a titan, and I've never had a student before, but... did I do an okay job of teaching you?"

"Yes." Eltanin whispered, "you were the best teacher I could have asked for. You did so much for me, and I'm grateful." Eltanin wrapped her arms around Zahir from the side, before quickly releasing him and running to the courtyard, silently.

Zahir stood still, frustrated. He didn't want it to end this way. Something about their last exchange made something click in his mind. He felt the same way he did the moment he saw his student's first sparks of potential.

"She seems really torn up about all of this." Crucius said, as Eltanin loaded up into her ship.

Zahir said nothing, turning around after he saw her ship disappear into the sky.

"You leave something in the hall?" Crucius asked, as Zahir backtracked.

"No."

Zahir walked back to the secretary, who was adjusting her microphone.

"Hey, miss! Don't call yet!" Zahir yelled, beginning to run.

"Oh? What is it, titan?" She asked, pausing.

"Listen. About the mentor change..." Zahir started, sitting back down.

"Zahir? Why are you here?" Eltanin asked, in the middle of polishing her rifle.

"What do you mean? It's time for your next lesson." Zahir set his shotgun down in the Venusian fern, smiling softly under his helmet.


	10. Ishtar Defense

"They want a challenge, eh? I got this." Lacer boasted, letting his auto rifle clatter to the floor. His ghost quickly flashed out, taking the rifle back.

The winter captain laughed, throwing its shrapnel launcher to one of its lackeys behind it. Its challenge had been met.

Silence filled the Ishtar lab.

Lacer cracked his knuckles. The captain began stretching its lower arms.

Then, they met.

The captain grappled Lacer with its lower arms, carrying him into a wall, and pummeling Lacer's helmet with the other two. After taking a couple of hits, Lacer pulled his hands up to block, then thrust his legs out, catching the captain's stomach. He fell forward, released from the captain's grasp as it stumbled away from the wall. It let out a hollow cough, standing up as it raised all four arms. Lacer moved in, dodging a punch and throwing a fist at the captain. The captain attempted to dodge, but Lacer hit its helmet's left horn, shattering it. The impact caused it to stumble around once more.

The captain tucked its arms in, quickly shedding its lower chest plate and upper arm guards, letting them fall to the floor. It crouched low to the ground, letting all six limbs grasp the tile below it. In a flash, it skittered through Lacer, knocking him over.

The captain's crew roared and clicked in triumph as the captain circled around, sending two fists crashing into the recovering Lacer's head. He fell flat back onto the ground, the metal platform ringing in contact with his helmet.

The captain stood up, walking over to Lacer to revel in its victory, but Lacer wasn't done. With the speed of a hunter, he thrust his right arm out, propelling him upward, as his other went into an uppercut, knocking the captain backward into the bridge that its crew watched from.

The captain roared in anger, grabbing its shrapnel launcher from a nearby dreg. It had clearly had enough. The crew began to chatter and hiss, raising their guns as well.

"Great, you can't ever rely on Fallen to give you a good fight." Lacer complained, as his ghost transmatted his auto rifle into his arms.

"Don't forget why we're here." Zahir raised his pulse rifle as he began to take fire. The Fallen scattered, attempting to surround the Titans.

The two nodded, throwing grenades to their flanks. The cries of Fallen being flung around by a pulse grenade echoed from a dark catwalk above. The thuds of Fallen hitting a transformer, launched by the other grenade, boomed to their left.

The gunfire died down. Zahir watched as the Captain began to stumble onto its knees, having taken too many hits. The titans walked over to the struggling Eliksni, ready to send it to hell.

Surprisingly, the Captain seemed to know English. It spoke slowly, inhibited by its injuries and lack of knowledge of human language.

"Need… parts… fix… Servitor…"

The captain coughed up a sickly grey substance.

"Cannot… feed… young…"

Zahir and Lacer looked at each other as the captain fell to its elbows. Its eyes glowed hot with hate against the cold metal floor.

"Because… you…"

The captain's arms gave out, and it slumped to the floor. Its back slowly rose and fell.

"He's gonna die, slowly." Zahir said, kneeling down.

"Then let 'im. He doesn't deserve a quick death." Lacer began walking out of the lab.

Zahir looked back at the captain. It was muttering, too quiet to hear. He sighed, unstrapping his pulse rifle and aiming it at the captain's head.

He heard the captain utter a single word as he pulled the trigger, but the captain was still too quiet to hear.


	11. Crossover

Zahir knocked before opening the massive wooden door to the Red Dome. He slipped in, letting the door close behind him.

He was met with a sprawling hall of books, stretching halfway to the curved ceiling. A small table stood to his right, holding a convoluted looking telescope. Crucius popped out at Zahir's side.

"I know, wow." Zahir marveled, looking around the hallway with Crucius.

Their gazes fell upon a warlock in the distance, hunched over a pile of books laying on the red carpeted floor.

"Damn it, I told those two to put their books back where they came from." The warlock muttered, putting another book back in its place.

Zahir walked over. "Uh, excuse me," Zahir looked down at a notecard in his palm, "Merlin-2?"

The warlock jumped, looking over at the duo. "Ah, I wasn't expecting any visitors today." He said, turning around as he stood up, his robes unfurling against the ground.

"Ah, yeah, sorry. It was kinda sudden. I know you've got a large collection of literature, and I have an urgent request for some books."

"What a courteous titan. Alright, what do you need?"

"I was wondering if you had any books on our enemies, for rookies."

"Got an apprentice, do we?" Merlin asked, chuckling.

"Haha, yeah, you're spot on." Zahir replied, "she's a warlock named Eltanin, rezzed last month."

"Your student's a warlock, eh? We have a lot in common. Anyway, you're in luck. My students just got through with their studies on that subject. Follow me, we're going to the sorting pile." Merlin said, beckoning to the middle of the dome.

Zahir was led through a series of corridors, learning that Merlin's Red Dome was not just a library. Some corridors were bare, some littered with books or trinkets or both. Finally, they reached a door labelled "Books to sort". Merlin unhooked a massive set of keys from within his robe, flipping them one by one.

The two entered the dark room, which was quickly illuminated by a switch Merlin pulled. The room was fairly small, and a pair of carts with several books stacked on them sat in the corner. Merlin walked over to the rightmost cart, pulling several thick blue books off of it.

"Get ready, titan!" Merlin huffed, as Zahir held out his arms. The books piled onto Zahir, weighing his arms down. The book on top read "the Enemies of Humanity: a Guardian's Guide. By Merlin-2."

"Whew, that's a lot of books." Zahir grunted, hauling himself up to standing height.

"It never hurts to be prepared. Our enemies are dangerous."

"True that."

The two made it back to the entrance of the Red Dome. As Zahir approached the door, his arms met a table, knocking the convoluted looking telescope he had seen earlier off of its stand.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Merlin exclaimed, running toward Zahir.

Merlin dove next to Zahir, thrusting his palm above his head. The telescope rocketed upward and into the air. Merlin held out his hands, letting the telescope fall into his grasp.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't really able to see." Zahir apologized.

"No no, it's alright, my students have done the same thing thrice now, I should really move this thing. It's quite expensive." Merlin said, studying the telescope before putting it back on its table. "Anyway, good luck with your student, you can keep those, I've ordered more copies. Have a nice day!" Merlin finished hastily, ushering Zahir out of the door.

Zahir set the books down as Crucius transmatted them, seeing as it was safe to transmat now.

"Did you notice that he seemed really pushy?" Zahir asked Crucius, who was finishing the transmat.

"Yeah, but you have to remember, Merlin's a scholar and a teacher, so he's probably really busy." Crucius answered, disappearing from view. "Let's get these books to Eltanin, I bet she'll be really happy with her rez day present. "

"Yeah, I bet she will." Zahir walked down the city street. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow against him.

(Merlin-2 comes from someone on Discord, and he suggested I write about his guardian with mine)


	12. Showdown

Zahir's fist cracked against another thrall's skull, sending it spiraling into dust. Its scream echoed into silence in the cavernous depths of the Hive tunnel. He dusted off his knuckles, stepping deeper into the caves.

A colossal metal door creaked open as Zahir pulled it aside with all of his might. He slipped through the opening he had made as he met the gaze of a wizard that he had gotten the attention of.

"There you are." Zahir said, moving his hand down to his thigh.

The wizard moved its left hand up, its cold claw beginning to glow.

The chamber fell silent as the echoes of the door hitting its frame dissipated.

With one swift move, Zahir pulled his hand cannon out and let two shots loose. One hit the wizard square between the eyes, causing it to scream in pain. It covered its head with its right hand, letting loose a flurry of arc energy from the left. Zahir ran to the side, ducking for cover behind a pillar. He heard the other doors in the chamber squeal open. He slipped the missing rounds back into his hand cannon, holstering it and unstrapping his shotgun.

He turned around to send a buckshot into an acolyte and a thrall right next to it. He charged forward, freeing his left hand to jump and spring off of a lumbering knight, pressing his shotgun's barrel against the back of its head and killing it before he hit the ground. His path was marked by the blasts of the wizard chasing after him. He continued onward, putting his shotgun away and leaping forward with his hands above his head. He came crashing to the ground as several Hive were reduced to nothing but wisps of arc, rumbling the entire chamber.

He whipped around to his side, letting loose a flashbang grenade hurling straight at the wizard. The grenade blew up, pushing the wizard back as it covered its eyes. As it struggled to regain its vision, Zahir aimed, pulling the hammer back on the hand cannon.

"Thuban sends his regards," Zahir said.

And with a shot that rang around the chamber, the wizard began to crumble.


	13. Eltanin's First Delve

"Alright. Eltanin, Lacer, just one more quick rundown before we set off." Zahir began, leaning down on the broken table that stood between the fireteam, and in the middle of an abandoned Moon outpost, "our target is Varloc, the Endless Throe. He resides in the Hive tunnels we're about to enter. What I didn't mention is this: word is that he splintered off from the Hive, and is building up a small brood. Normally we'd let infighting among our friends out here go on, but the Hive going against eachother is odd, to say the least. Nevertheless, this should be a pretty easy job, and a good one for you to start with, Eltanin." He gestured to his student.

"Huh, that's odd. The Hive have different sects, don't they?" Eltanin asked her mentor.

"Good job, you've been reading those textbooks the Boss gave ya" Lacer interjected, putting his thumb up, "they do have different sects, but the ones we know of are all under that Crota and his pop."

"Crota has a father?" Eltanin asked.

"Yeah, but we only know his name: Oryx. Hopefully he never shows his ugly mug around here."

"Right. Let's go, then. Eltanin, since this is your first mission with us, it's important we all stick together, okay?" Zahir finished.

"You got it... boss." Said Eltanin.

Lacer tried hard not to laugh. Zahir shook his head, hauling his shotgun off of its perch against the table. Eltanin took her clean, polished hand cannon from atop the table. Lacer cracked his knuckles, feeling at the sniper rifle on his back. The three stepped out of the building, walking toward the shadowy maw of the cave.

A horde of Thrall surrounding the cave's entrance stood up, turning to meet the fireteam. They roared, as usual, but instead of charging the fireteam, they scrambled into the cave's entrance.

"What the hell?" Zahir said, stopping in his tracks. Eltanin and Lacer stopped as well.

"What's wrong?" Eltanin asked.

"Well, normally, Thrall would charge at you, mindlessly." Zahir explained.

"Like a titan." Eltanin stated.

"HAH! LIKE A TITAN!" Lacer laughed, slapping Eltanin on the back. "That was good. That was real good, kid, and this is coming from a titan."

Eltanin let out a quick "Heh".

"Hey, where'd Zahir go?" Lacer looked around the canyon, but Zahir was nowhere to be found.

Eltanin and Lacer briefly searched their surroundings, coming to the conclusion that Zahir must have entered the cave. The question was why and how. The pair walked up to the cave entrance, its mouth still pitch black.

"Huh, so it wasn't a trap." Zahir said, as his ghost's light flashed and he popped his head out in an instant.

"Gah!" Eltanin screamed, stumbling back and falling onto her behind.

"Nice one." Lacer commented.

"Ah, sorry, I should've told you guys what I was doing." Zahir rubbed his helmet, resting his arm on the ground in front of the cave. "Anyway, we're going in. The chamber I was met with is pretty dark, so make sure you light it up."

And with that, Zahir disappeared once more. Lacer hopped into the cave, followed by a gracefully floating Eltanin.

"You weren't kidding about it being dark, it's pitch black!" Lacer's voice echoed throughout the circular chamber. A hastily constructed Hive door loomed in the distance.

"Guess this is where they went?" Zahir said, putting a hand to the door. Lacer examined the door as well, and Eltanin continued to stick directly behind Zahir.

"You sure you'll be fine?" Zahir asked, looking over his shoulder.

Eltanin stepped away from Zahir's back, gulping.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She whispered, tapping her clenched fists to her thighs.

Zahir shrugged and turned back around, nodding at Lacer.

The two counted down, each grasping an end of the door before pulling away an entrance. Beyond lay more of the same pitch darkness.

Eltanin stomped. "Why does it all have to be so dark? I can't get used to this!"

"You won't have to. The Hive usually don't have chambers like this." Zahir stated, peering into the caves in front of them. "This really is odd. Do you think we should request backup?"

"Nah, we'll be fine. It's just a runt of a knight, right? We got this." Lacer assured, sticking his thumb up.

A faint roar echoed from beyond the door, causing Eltanin to shrink back.

"Say, uh, Zahir. Are you sure you've been teaching her well?"

"Oh, uh." Zahir began

"No no no, don't be mistaken, Mister Lacer, Zahir is the best teacher I could ask for. It's just, I've never been on any operations as daunting as a strike." Eltanin explained, looking down at her robes.

"Agh, Zahir went ahead again. Come on." Lacer groaned, shuffling through the door.

"Guys, something REALLY weird is happening here." Zahir stuttered, his ghost flashing the ground.

"What the hell?" Lacer yelled, seeing the ashes and husks of several Hive scattered across the ground. "Someone get here before us?"

"No, nobody else should be here. Maybe it was Fallen?" Zahir pondered, walking on.

"Maybe it wasn't anything else. Maybe it was the Hive that did this to themselves." Crucius said, moving about the cave.

"What do you mean?" Zahir asked.

"I've been scanning the room, and I'm not detecting any traces of arc weaponry. It couldn't have been Fallen, and we know that no other guardians have been here." Crucius explained.

An air of uncomfortableness filled the room, as the guardians reluctantly pressed on. Eventually, they found themselves in a small, circular room, pitch black as well, with an altar in the center.

"All of this equipment was hastily arranged, or abandoned." Zahir stated, looking around the dropped stone tablets and bare weapon racks.

"What on the Moon would scare the Hive? Are we that much of a threat to them?" Lacer asked.

"I don't know. We've just gotta keep going." Zahir continued through the next door. However, the light from his ghost was swept down as soon as he stepped through.

"Zahir? Boss!" Lacer cried out, running toward the door. Eltanin watched in fright as Lacer disappeared in just the same way. What was she going to do? This was her first strike operation, and it was already going so terribly wrong. Eltanin was stuck in her thoughts, pondering idea after idea on what to do.

And suddenly, Eltanin was calm. She ceased shaking.

"Get back." She said to her ghost, illuminating the room from her shoulder. As the room dipped into darkness, she held out her hand. A spark ignited, and a ball of solar energy appeared in her hand, bathing the room in light once more. She stepped toward the door, holding a hand cannon in her free hand. She split her arms on opposite ends of herself, thrusting herself through the door. She sent her palm to the left, and let her hand cannon ring to her right. A knight, hidden along the wall, roared in pain as it was seared by her light. She grasped her hand cannon with both hands, shooting the Knight until it was silent.

Eltanin released her left hand, reigniting it. "Well," she mused, with newfound courage, "that worked out."

She continued onward, into the unknown.

Zahir met Eltanin's eye, who was creeping along the entrance to the vast ritual chamber from above him. Eltanin extinguished her palm, concealing her position. Zahir and Lacer were bound to pillars, their ghosts trapped in chains before them. The room was dimly lit by a large tablet between the pillars, soulfire glowing in its carvings. In front of them loomed a massive Hive Knight.

The knight faced away from them, looking down on an acolyte. The acolyte, shaking in terror, placed its gun onto the gray cave floor, kneeling down. Eltanin, curious, peered close from the ramp.

The knight roared, swiftly striking the acolyte down with its sword. It did not scream as it crumbled into ash, leaving its maroon armor on the ground.

"That knight must be Varloc, our target. I don't know exactly why he killed that acolyte, but we should be on alert. Zahir and Lacer's lives are in danger."

Varloc turned around, meeting Zahir and Lacer. It ran its hand along the cleaver, then raised it up. It quickly took out the titans, ramming its blade through the chests of each.

Eltanin picked up her pace, breathing heavily as she heard her team fall to Varloc.

Varloc tapped on the eyes of the ghosts, gesturing to the titans. The ghosts responded, their shells expanding around their chained cores. The room was filled with blue light as the limp titans returned, gasping, still bound to their pillars.

Eltanin had made it to ground level, watching from behind a pillar to the Varloc's left. She searched for Hive, but saw none. Did he not have reinforcements?

Varloc raised his sword, killing the titans once more. It stood still as the ghosts brought the titans back, growling angrily. Frustrated, it started for the ghosts. Eltanin leapt out of cover. Varloc wasn't going to throw their lives away.

Eltanin threw a solar grenade, eager to let it go after using it as a light for so long. It caught Varloc's side, causing it to stumble over in pain, away from the ghosts' prison.

Eltanin repeatedly nailed a struggling Varloc with her hand cannon as she walked forward.

She took a knife from her belt, slashing the chains holding the ghosts captive. They disappeared into safety. As she began making her way to Zahir and Lacer, Varloc's foot bashed her in the side. She felt the sickening crack of her ribcage breaking as she was flung into a wall. Her chest flashed with pain. Eltanin breathed slowly, fueled by determination.

Eltanin groaned as her bones were slowly repaired. Varloc lumbered over, dragging his cleaver behind him, scratching the ground and kicking up dust. Struggling to get up, Eltanin settled on rolling away from the incoming swing. Varloc's blade slammed into the floor, sending dust and pebbles flying. Eltanin, fully healed, dashed for the pillars, unsheathing her knife once again. As Varloc struggled to dig his cleaver out of the ground, Eltanin unbound Zahir and Lacer.

"Thank god, Eltanin, I thought we were done for!" Lacer stretched his arms. His ghost appeared, bringing his auto rifle into his hands.

"Good job, Eltanin. I owe you my life." Zahir let his shotgun fall into his grip.

"Aw, don't make blush, Zahir." Eltanin quipped, punching Zahir's shoulder. Varloc, giving up on the cleaver, lumbered over behind Eltanin, towering over the warlock.

"Get back!" Zahir yelled, keeping Varloc at bay with his shotgun. Eltanin and Lacer responded, chipping at the knight's armor with their light fire.

Varloc roared, his massive crimson front shining bright against the flashes of the guardians' weapons. The chitin protecting him dented and broke, causing the knight to stumble over.

Zahir's shotgun clicked, out of ammo. Varloc regained his balance, only to be knocked over by a shoulder charge from Lacer. Zahir switched to a pulse rifle.

"Why is he fighting alone?" Eltanin asked, continuing to shoot at Varloc.

"Who knows? Just kill him!" Lacer urged.

Varloc ran along the wall as he was peppered by the fireteam's guns, approaching a tunnel entrance. He disappeared into nothingness as the fireteam pursued him, stopping at the tunnel.

"What the hell is going on?" Lacer yelled, appalled.

"I think I might now. Light up the room." Zahir gestured to Crucius, who floated to the top of the cavern. Eltanin and Zahir were shocked to see more husks and armor of tens of Hive, scattered along the tunnel wall.

"Who killed all these Hive?" Lacer asked.

"I caught a glimpse these as we were taken here." Zahir knelt near the wall, taking an acolyte's hollow helmet into his hands. "Still lots of ash. They were killed recently."

Zahir stood up, looking over to Eltanin. "Eltanin, do you know how Hive stay alive?"

"By…" Eltanin put her hand to her helmet's chin, pondering. "Killing?"

"Correct. We don't know much about this system, but the Hive are always killing because they'll die otherwise." Zahir let the helmet clatter to the ground. "I think this knight tricked some of the Hive into giving their lived for him. He murdered them all for his own good. That acolyte he killed in front of us is solid proof"

"Why don't they fight back?"

"He must have split them up, so that he'll be able to take them all on group by group."

"And that's what he escaped to continue doing."

"Correct." Zahir nodded, disgusted at the thought.

Lacer interrupted. "Then we've gotta go, quick. He's getting stronger by the minute! That bug-eyed bastard didn't give us the slip to run, he did it to face us again!"

Zahir nodded, starting for the tunnel.

"Or, he's waiting to ambush us again." Eltanin stopped Zahir, walking in front of him. She ignited her hand, sending a solar grenade through the mouth of the tunnel.

There was no noise but the crackling of the solar grenade's flames caressing the Moon's caves.

As the solar grenade died out, plunging the room into near darkness once more, Zahir walked forward. Eltanin looked defeated, and Zahir noticed.

"It was a good idea to consider that, seeing as we almost died for it last time." Zahir complimented, beckoning Lacer and Eltanin forward. "We should hurry, but there's only so many Hive he can kill before we catch up."

The fireteam marched into the pitch black cavern, leaving the dim green room behind.

Darkness filled the final cave room. The muggy pitch blackness seemed to wrap itself around the team, an eerie ambience filling their ears. Varloc's green eyes and several sets more danced about in a show of green dots in the distance. Shredder and boomer shots streaked about, adding to the light show. The Hive were hopelessly cut down, throwing themselves at Varloc again and again out of desperation. Their screams and crumbling into dust struck the cave's walls in a demented tempo. Zahir spoke silently through their comms.

"Alright. Remember the plan, Eltanin. Got anything, Lacer?"

"Yep, no doubt about it. He's killing Hive like there's no tomorrow." Lacer whispered, peering down into the chamber through a pair of goggles. "There's still a good amount down there fighting Varloc, so they haven't given up yet.

"He's desperate, but gaining power won't heal his wounds in time. Do it, Crucius."

Crucius responded to Zahir, pulling an object out of transmat beside the fireteam. In a halo of blue light, the Hive tablet from the other room began to appear, adding a distinct light source to the cave. The Hive below took notice, ceasing their infighting. Varloc roared as the Hive broke away. Thrall scrambled up the two pathways leading to the fireteam's perch, as acolytes shuffled around below, positioning themselves suitably.

Zahir crouched down, prompting Lacer and Eltanin to do so as well.

"Now!" Zahir leapt off of the rock and down below, followed by Lacer. Eltanin jumped into the air, suspending herself with a glide. She let solar light fill her body from within, enveloping her in flame. She felt a surge of power as she looked down upon the horde of Hive below her. The warlock's radiance lit up the cave brighter than the tablet ever could, drawing the Hive's attention from the tablet to the shimmering warlock above them. Grenade after grenade plummeted down, mowing through the thrall and eating up the acolytes around Lacer and Zahir.

Varloc roared in anger, picking up the cleaver propped against his leg as Zahir charged straight ahead. He released his arc energy in a slam that shook the cave, causing tremors above. Varloc uncrossed his arms he had brought up to guard himself, confused. Zahir's fist of havoc had completely missed, impacting the area directly in front of the knight. The aftershocks of arc energy pulsed weaker and weaker, its blue light illuminating the three figures less and less. Eltanin battled on in the distance, continuing to dish out fiery destruction.

"He wasn't aiming for you, dumbass!" Lacer yelled from within his fresh ward of dawn, "look up!" He pointed as Zahir retreated into the fortress of void. The attack had caused a cave in, sending dislodged rocks tumbling down from the ceiling. Varloc, following the defender's gesture, roared in terror as he was struck by boulder after boulder. The titans' visions were crowded by the rocks rolling over the ward of dawn, sending dust flying around the pockets not covered by rock.

"You think Eltanin is okay?" Zahir yelled from among the defeaning rumbling. The ward of dawn was completely encased by stone.

"Relax. She'll be fine. She's been a beast this entire mission!" Lacer assured.

"Hey, the bubble's giving in." Zahir pointed to the weakening membrane of the ward of dawn, worried.

"Ah, crap. It'll be bad if we all die right now. Ghosts are gonna need time to rez us."

Zahir looked at Lacer in annoyance.

"Hm. Welp, good luck, boss. Let's hope our tickets back alive aren't crushed by bony space bugs. Alright? Besides, this was your plan." Lacer gave a thumbs up as the void light abruptly disappeared, plunging the two into darkness as the rocks came down, released from their suspension by the ward of dawn.

Zahir lived through the cave in, though he wished he hadn't. He struggled to break the surface above the sea of rocks, surrounded by the blackness of the cave, only lit up by the tablet in the distance above. Eltanin's radiance no longer lit the room. Zahir turned back, leaning on his side as his crushed legs and lower torso began to regenerate. Eltanin was nowhere to be seen. Had she been crushed as well? Lacer would be safe from harm, his ghost and body under the rocks, but Eltanin had been fighting away from the cave-in.

He couldn't ponder any further. Varloc rose through his tomb of stone behind Zahir in a flash. Zahir, still weakened and healing, struggled to get away. The knight, with chunks of armor missing, and his foot completely crushed, crawled his way over to Zahir. He heard Varloc's claws grasp each boulder on his route to the titan, getting closer and closer. He was abruptly caught by the neck and raised above Varloc's head.

He felt the knight's chitin covered fingers close around his throat in a rocky grasp. Varloc's oppressive grip crushed the metal tube of circuitry and tech that was his neck. Three swirling green eyes pierced into Zahir with hate, rage, and desperation.

Zahir groaned, struggling to get free with one hand. The rest of his body hung below, weighing him down. If he died here, his ghost was surely doomed.

He had an idea. Zahir willed arc energy into his palm, and it appeared as a swirl of blue light enclosing itself in a sphere. Varloc noticed, but saw the charging of a grenade as futile, gripping harder. The arc light revealed more of his disfigured, damaged form. Zahir's vision began to fade, darkness covering his view as the light from the arc grenade grew faint to him.

He couldn't die. His fireteam was hanging on this one gambit.

Varloc began to open his mouth again. Zahir saw his opportunity. With a burst of energy, Zahir thrust his last resort forward, plunging his grenade in hand into Varloc's agape mouth. He threw his hand back and out of Varloc's jaw. The knight roared as electricity crackled through his head, stumbling away. Zahir was released, plummeting back down onto the bed of rocks.

Varloc's eyes and mouth lit up with pulsating arc energy as he roared in pain. The Endless Throe continued to stagger, slipping off of the rocks and onto his back. Smoke began to escape the knight's orifices as his roars turned to grunts.

Zahir stood up, his legs completely healed. As Crucius healed his neck, Zahir took the shotgun off of his back. He was the executioner, and Varloc was waiting.

The pulse grenade went out, leaving Varloc's dimming eyes to light Zahir's way forward. Varloc was on his back, propped up against a boulder. A ghastly image was painted on the cave floor. The charred, crushed body of the knight sat like a discarded collection of bones in front of Zahir, who walked forward menacingly. Varloc breathed heavily, clinging onto his last moments of life. He felt around at his side. As if by some miracle or stroke of luck, he felt the familiar hilt of his cleaver at his fingertips. One strike could end the titan coming to kill him. One strike could continue his experiment. He could lead the Hive to peace, free from their tithes, their worms. He just needed more time.

Varloc brought his cleaver out, his weakened arm shaking from the weight. No. He was too hurt. His dried head was barely intact. He could feel his head splitting. He could hear nothing, and see nothing but the faint image of an orange clad figure. In a sign of defeat, he dropped it at his thighs. The swing he needed wouldn't happen.

"I don't know what you were thinking, or if you can even understand me, but you sicken me. Even for the Hive, murdering your own kind by the masses is unforgivable. You don't deserve to die by my shotgun. You'll lay here and rot." Zahir put his shotgun away, shaking his head at the pitiful sight before him.

Varloc fixed his gaze on Zahir, his almost dead eyes looking at the titan in apathy. Zahir turned away to revive his fireteam and leave.

POST STRIKE REPORT:

Fireteam leader: Zahir-2 (titan)

Fireteam members: Eltanin (warlock), Lacer (titan)

Strike objective: Investigate and kill Hive target "Varloc, the Endless Throe"

Known information prior: Splintered off from main Hive sects, took Hive with him.

Collected information: Consolidated underling Hive into groups in order to slaughter them in sections and gain their power. Cave/lair was constructed to be pitch black save for a mysterious tablet, likely to make it harder for lesser hive to overcome him. In the middle of the mission, Lacer and I were captured, killed twice each before Varloc realized that a rezzing guardian would not fuel power. Rescued by Eltanin before permanent death could be inflicted.

Result: Varloc killed after causing a cave in which wiped out all remaining Hive. Left to die after fatal injuries inflicted.

Notes: Warlock Eltanin's first strike mission, displayed incredible ingenuity and quick thinking when our lives were in peril. Consider her actions.


	14. Shopping Trip

"You're really going to buy me a new hand cannon?" Eltanin asked, in wonder.

"Yes. You deserve it." Zahir answered yet again, as the two walked through the Tower hallway. The sun was at its peak, casting its light from next to the Traveler. A fleet of guardian ships took off, filling the air with the noise of engines. It was a busy Saturday afternoon in the Tower's shopping floors. Zahir opened the doors to a gun shop.

The armory was brightly lit, its white ceiling capturing the various reflected paint jobs of rifles galore. An employee sat in a corner, tinkering with a SUROS pulse rifle. As the Titan and Warlock began to move to the hand cannons, a hunter lazily popped out from behind a rack of scout rifle barrels.

"Kale?" Zahir looked over at the hunter, who was taken by surprise.

"Ey, Zahir! What're you doing here?" Kale-8 replied, waving.

"Remember that moon mission I told you about? This warlock saved Lacer and I." Zahir pointed to Eltanin nonchalantly.

"Oh, so this is your student I've heard so much about." Kale walked over, looking Eltanin up and down. "So, again, what're you doing here?" He repeated, curious.

"I'm buying her a new hand cannon." Zahir pointed to Eltanin, who was eying an aisle of shaders in the distance.

Kale nodded slowly and mischievously, his exo faceplates forming a grin. "Ahh. I gotcha."

"Want to help us pick one out?"

"Nah, I'm good. I'll leave it to you two to make a decision." Kale said slowly as he started for the door, slipping next to Zahir. "She's kinda cute." He whispered in his ear before leaving.

Zahir shook his head, beckoning Eltanin to the wall of hand cannons before them. Eltanin eyed the leftmost row of decent quality hand cannons, before Zahir noticed and diverted her attention to the right.

"Eltanin, don't devalue your work. I'm buying you only the finest." Zahir pointed to the most tricked out hand cannons on the wall. He went over them one by one.

"This one'll be really consistent at long ranges, this one has explosive rounds, this one packs an extra punch every once in a while. Here's one of SUROS' new hand cannons. Not sure how good they are."

Zahir took notice of his overwhelmed student, skimming over the remaining hand cannons with his eyes. A flurry of painted metal streaked through his vision. "Though, if I really had to recommend one…" He reached for an Omolon model, reading its description. "This hand cannon taps into your light, giving your light a little juice when you kill with it. I know you like your grenades, so maybe this?" He took the hand cannon off of its rack.

Eltanin perked up, interested. "Army of One. I like it." She read the hand cannon's description as Zahir let the gun into her hands. She turned it around, its blue cylinder shining against the black matte finish. "Are you sure, Zahir?" Eltanin looked back to the wall, at its price.

"Do I have to say it again? Yeah. You've done a great job in your time on my scout team so far, and it's your rez month. I should at least treat you. I can afford it." Zahir pointed his thumb at himself, boastful.

Crucius spoke to Zahir from behind his head. "We're gonna need to take a lot of bounties to cover this." Zahir nodded in woeful agreement.

After paying, Eltanin excitedly walked out of the shop. "I want to take this on a patrol. I'll see you later, Zahir, thanks!" Eltanin waved as she ran off. Zahir sighed in accomplishment, continuing down the line of shops.

Zahir opened his apartment door to meet Kale-8 once again, propped up on the couch. A Crucible match played on the television, filling the room with sounds of gunfire and explosions.

"Oh, 'ey Zahir." Kale waved at the door, his eyes fixated on the screen.

"Hello." Zahir went over to the couch, sitting beside Kale. He had gotten used to the hunter's frequent visits.

"Ship's being repaired. It'll take until tomorrow, so I'll be here for the night."

"Mm."

"By the way, I'm really craving some of your… feetuh...fetter…"

"Fettucini?"

"Yeah, that! Any chance I could get some?"

"I don't have any pasta."

Kale's eyes widened. "You? Out of ingredients? No way!"

Zahir hastily justified himself. "No, I was going to go grocery shopping, but… I'm a bit broke at the moment…"

Kale tilted his head in confoundment, leaning forward off of the couch. A nova bomb being fired flared purple through the TV screen, shining against Zahir's green forehead. "Just how much did that hand cannon cost ya?"

"Forty k."

Kale fell back into the plush leather embrace of his seat. His eyes glowed a brilliant yellow, open wide in astonishment. "Forty k! You spent a fortune on her!"

"Yeah, but it was perfect for her. Eltanin loves her grenades, and the hand cannon I bought her was modified by Army of One."

"Damn. Might as well have bought her a wedding ring." Kale muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." Kale stood up, turning the Crucible match off. He started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Zahir stood up as well.

"You mean, where are we going? Let's hunt some Vex or somethin', make some of your money back. I'm getting a rental jumpship. Meet me at the Courtyard in an hour."

"Ah… okay." Zahir began walking to his room.

"Better make me some fettucini afterward!" Kale's voice trailed off as he disappeared behind the door.

"Zahir." Crucius appeared as Zahir began donning his armor.

"Hm?"

"Rent's due in a week."

Crucius blinked and spun his shell in amusement as Zahir picked up his pace.


	15. Dread Assault

"That must be it." Zahir said to his partner, the warlock Eltanin, as he walked over to a glowing green hive orb, surrounded by small dreadnaught pillars.

"Let's get this out of here." Zahir told Crucius, who began to scan the orb.

Suddenly, a large Hive Knight appeared from a catwalk above Zahir. Zahir barely looked up in time, covering his ghost with both hands and thrusting Crucius to his chest. Before the knight came crashing down onto Zahir.

Zahir gasped as the knight's cleaver caught his side, launching him into a pillar. The knight's gloomy figure towered over him, its back lit up by the crackling soulfire of the hive relic it protected, their goal.

Before the knight could slice Zahir in two, Eltanin stuck a fusion grenade onto the knight's shoulder. The knight roared as chitin was flung off of its hide, leaving a smoking hole from its neck to its shoulder. Zahir hoisted himself off of the pillar, lifting into the air as the knight turned on the warlock, lifting its blade once more.

"Clear!" Zahir yelled from the air, prompting Eltanin to glide backward, away from the knight's cleaver, which crashed into the dreadnaught's hollow floor.

Zahir felt his fist swirl with crackling energy. He closed his fist, harnessing it, channeling it. He lunged down with all of his might, sending his fist crashing into the knight's head. A brilliant flash of light dissipated to reveal Zahir, with his fist on the ground. Not a trace of the knight was left.

"You see that, Eltanin?" Zahir said, standing up. "That's a move Uxar used to call "death from above." I've made it my mission to perfect his technique."

"Amazing!" Eltanin exclaimed, holstering her hand cannon, "I'd love to know how you're able to launch yourself downward like that, rather than a regular jump."

"I've never heard of a warlock that wanted to dive into the action." Zahir replied, walking over to the hive relic.

"You never know, Zahir. This system's a wild one."

"Zahir, we've recovered our relic." A hunter said over Zahir's comms.

"Nice work, Vira." Zahir said, "I got the last one, you guys can start heading back."

"And now, we'll be heading back." Zahir said, as Crucius transmatted the relic away.

Just as the last of the relic was transmatted to Zahir's ship, the shrieks of several taken rifts screeched throughout the chamber.

"Not just yet, I guess." Eltanin said, readying a fusion grenade.

"Not just yet." Zahir acknowledged, pulling out his pulse rifle.


	16. Painted Red

"Kale?" Zahir said, utterly confused. His body was thrown off the side of the tower. In front of him was a large, black, blocky ball. It began to dissolve from the top down. Zahir saw Kale-8 running toward him and reaching out, as well as the glows from the eyes of red and white helmets within the ball before the edge of the tower covered his vision.

"Zahir!" Kale yelled through the rain, watching his friend plummet to the streets below. Before he could say anything else, the sickly orange blade of a strange looking cabal crashed into his chest, sending the hunter flying back into a nearby vault terminal.

"It's no use! We'll have to meet up with him later!" Heather said, launching a thunderstrike at the legionary that knocked Kale away. She walked backwards to where Kale was recovering, as four bursts of her pulse rifle netted two dead legionaries. Kale got back up, sending a knife hurling into the last legionary in front of the duo.

"What the hell is going on?" Kale exclaimed, slinging his shotgun off his back as a colossal cabal warship roared across the sky above them, sending several more Cabal pods crashing down onto the plaza. A fireteam of three rushed in from the hangar, joining the warlock and hunter in defending the tower. Behind them was Zavala, walking to the courtyard gate while loading an auto rifle. The stairway to the hall of guardians was caved in by a stray missile.

"Stand tall guardians, the Cabal won't get past us." He stated, as a mass of legionaries converged on the guardians.

"Gotta help them..." Zahir groaned as he threw his arms forward, desperately pulling himself across the gravel. His vision was growing dark. The only thing he saw was them, lying at the end of the alleyway, a fire blazing through the shop behind them.

"Zahir." Crucius said, materializing in front of his helmet. "You need to stay still, you're making it difficult to heal you.

"Shut up." Zahir grumbled, pushing Crucius aside. He slowly dragged his arm forward.

"Zahir! Listen to me! They're dead. They've been dead! Pull yourself together!"

Dead silent. Crucius' eye drooped down, and Zahir froze.

"Finally." Crucius sighed, siphoning energy into Zahir's body. The cracks in his armor mended, and Zahir sat up.

"Zahir, I'm sorry about that, but it needed to be said. You aren't thinking straight." Crucius said, scolding Zahir.

Zahir said nothing. He unholstered his sidearm, brushing dirt off of the handle. He stood up, looking down the alleyway.

"Zahir." Crucius snapped, floating up to Zahir's head.

Zahir didn't reply. He strode out into the alleyway.

"We're just a few districts away from the outskirts of the city. We can escape."

Zahir looked over the bodies of his friends. Their ghosts lay in crushed heaps next to them. Kale-8's cloak lay ripped at his feet. Zahir took it up in his hand, clutching it tight. He slowly unhooked his bright blue mark, letting it flutter to the ground, and replaced it with the remains of Kale's cloak.

Crucius looked over the heaps of gravel and rock that covered Zahir's fireteam. The fire behind them began to die. Zahir gave a salute, then glanced at Crucius with his piercing blue exo eyes before putting his helmet back on. He marched toward the outer city walls.

Crucius was relieved. It seemed Zahir had calmed down.

And suddenly, he was bombarded with evacuation coordinates.

Silence filled the street. It had been the only thing present since the fireteam and the civilians they protected had hidden several hours ago. Cabal roamed around, searching for traces of the human lives they had detected. The tremors of the frightened civilians worried Zahir. Vira, restless, stepped out of cover, shocking the fireteam.

"Vira? What are you doing?" Zahir questioned, as Vira began to expose himself to the Cabal on the city street. The sun hadn't touched him in what seemed like days. He felt at peace, rising out from under the bridge. Debris littered the street, a result of the Cabal trashing the place. Vira stayed facing away, his back turned to the group. He spoke through his comms.

"The Cabal won't leave here until they find something. I can have them conclude their search, so that you aren't found."

"You're saying that you're going to kill yourself."

"It's the only way out of this. If they kill me, they'll leave, and you can escape. If I live, we can all escape. If we do nothing… They'll find us. I've been thinking, and there's no other way. Trust me."

Vira shut off his comms, blocking out Zahir's protests and pleading. He smiled bitterly. He didn't want to believe it, but this may very well be the last life he could give to the city. His chest shook with fear and adrenaline as he braced himself for the coming battle.

One legionary taking notice was all it took for the once quiet street to descend into chaos. Vira let his scout rifle flow. Two shots, one legionary down. He made his way behind a concrete barricade. Suitable cover for now. There were at least a dozen Cabal from what he saw. He popped in and out of cover for the next minute, dispatching a phalanx with difficulty and two more legionaries. Slugs pelted themselves against the barricade, wearing it down.

As his ghost healed his wounds, the roaring of a Cabal bronto cannon filled the ears of everyone nearby, as its void blast struck the barricade. The cannon's roars overtook the sea of slugs being launched all over the street. Vira was knocked away from his cover, as the cinder block exploded and sent shards of cement everywhere. He struggled to get up, a rock pinning his robe down. He heard the bronto cannon click in the distance as it readied another deadly blast.

He didn't need his robe, anyway. Vira leapt sideways after unclipping his chest gear, avoiding the next fatal blast from the deadly void weapon. Attempting in vain to take its shields down, Vira dodged and chipped away at the solar energy surrounding the Cabal warrior as he strafed left. Several more cabal had moved in as this went on, closing in on Vira's position.

As he began to take more fire, Vira became lost in thought. The sounds of slug rifles and explosions began to drown out. Was he dying? How many times had he been shot? Would his ghost's healing outpace the wounds being inflicted on him? It didn't matter. He'd chosen to throw himself out here for the good of others. Funny, he'd never been one to take the righteous path, but something made him do it, as if on impulse. He glanced over at the bridge. That's right. Zahir couldn't die. He struggled to believe he would do a better job than his leader if he were alive instead. He'd simply taken the chance before Zahir.

_Click, click._ His scout rifle was empty. He had no mags remaining.

He chuckled to himself. Guardians really were for each other in the end. It'd become a game of who sacrificed themselves first.

Vira looked back. A couple dozen pairs of Cabal peered at him through the lights of their helmets. They had stopped shooting, letting their centurion lumber his way over to the damaged warlock. He was on his knees, though he didn't remember being knocked down.

"Zahir, don't let it go to waste." Vira muttered through his mic, barely able to speak. Zahir tried to step out from under the bridge, held back by the other warlock within the group. There were too many Cabal, and there was too little time.

The centurion bore its maw, standing over Vira. It grabbed the warlock by the neck, strangling him. His helmet reflected the sunlight as it was lifted up, as if it was some sick metaphor to his coming death.

Vira felt his life leave him, as if being drained through his feet, squeezed out by the steel tipped fingers of the centurion, who began to laugh. Too bad for it, he would have the last laugh. He held his last statement in front of him. An unpinned grenade. He was a warrior at heart, and he'd go out fighting.

By the Traveler, he wished today wasn't the day he had to go. He felt selfish for it, but his curiosity was what really swarmed his thoughts. There was so much he had wanted to do, to explore. What was the true nature of the Traveler? Of the darkness? What other threats lurked in the deep beyond? There was so much he needed to know, but his regret turned to peace. Before, he felt as if his sacrifice was simply a way to be seen as a hero to others, but he realized why he had moved out on his own and given his life. He may have seemed self centered more often than not, but at heart, he was a righteous man. His resolve had never been tested in such a way, but the Cabal's invasion had opened that part of him.

The last thing he saw was the blurred visage of the surprised Centurion, a parallel of his untimely end, as the grenade went off.

"How many of them, Lacer?" Zahir asked his right hand of his scouting party.

Lacer shifted his sniper rifle to the right, shuffling a few small branches.

Lacer took his head away from the scope. "Four legionaries, two psions, a phalanx, and a centurion."

Zahir grimaced.

"And a heap of explosives being loaded onto their harvester." Lacer added.

The fireteam chuckled, a couple of them unholstering their rocket launchers. The rocket bearing guardians creeped up next to Lacer, who gave them targets to fire on.

Zahir, behind them, started counting.

"One...  
Two...  
Three!"

A single rocket launcher fired. At the same time, three Cabal headhunter bullets zipped into the fireteam from behind.

Zahir heard the sickening shattering of a ghost's shell to his right. Eltanin, who was relaying information to the farm, fell to the ground, stunned by the loss of her ghost.

Zahir felt pure anger burning in his chest, as he whipped around to meet their ambushers.

The psions dropped dead before they could fire any more shots. The shells of several bullets rolled down the cliff as their bodies fell at their feet. Zahir and Lacer ran to the edge of their nest, peeking through the trees with their scopes as the other three guardians began to pick up Eltanin.

About half of the Cabal squad was killed. The remaining Cabal were sprinting for the cliffside where the fireteam was under the orders of the still living centurion.

Zahir pounded his fist on the dirt. "We're leaving." He said, through gritted mouthplates.

The guardians bolted out of the forest, as Zahir shouldered the shocked Eltanin.

"I thought you gave up." Lacer said, leaning against the cabin's porch. It was the day before the attack to retake the city was to take place

Zahir sighed, his hand on the door frame. "I've gotta do something. I'm not sitting this one out." He replied.

"You talk to your ghost yet?"

Zahir didn't say anything. He took his hand off of the door frame and walked past Lacer. He stopped for a second, turning around.

"Hey, Lacer, if we make it out of this, scouting party D-6 is yours. I'm stepping down." Zahir said, before continuing on to the farm's armory.

Lacer uncrossed his arms. His ghost flashed out.

"You think he'll be okay?" His ghost asked.

"Will he be okay? I dunno. Are any of us okay right now?" Lacer sighed, walking to the armory behind Zahir.

Zahir's wind was knocked out by the rushing Centurion, who stuck its blade into Zahir's side. It knocked him into a wall. Zahir groaned, pushing the Centurion's maw away as the blade dug deeper into his side. As the two struggled, Zahir's other hand grasped his sidearm. His vision began to go dark.

"Not like this!" Zahir cried, unloading a magazine into the centurion's chest. Zahir pulled the Cabal blade out of his side as the centurion fell, and Crucius began to mend his body.

"Zahir! Are you good?" Lacer said, skidding to a stop in front of the alleyway.

"I'm alright. That centurion just came out of nowhere." He said, holstering his sidearm and pulling out a pulse rifle. He took aim behind Lacer, popping the helmet off of an advancing Legionary.

"Thanks." Lacer said, turning around to meet several more Cabal.

Several moments later, the dust cleared as a legionary fell to the ground. Lacer and Zahir reloaded their weapons, breathing heavily. Just then, they received a transmission from Zavala.

"Looks like the guardian's here. It's almost over." Zahir said.

Lacer nodded.

They continued into the city streets, rifles slung over their shoulders, Cabal corpses littering the road behind them.

One. Two. Three more Cabal dropped dead to Zahir's pulse rifle. He dragged Lacer, barely alive, along with him, back into an alleyway. The Cabal converged on them. Zahir didn't let up, he continued to unload rounds into the advancing Cabal, one after another.

They kept coming. Zahir backed in even further, behind two dumpsters. He planted his back against the wall, launching the dumpster forward with a kick. It came crashing into the next two legionaries. Zahir ducked behind the remaining dumpster, taking out his pulse rifle.

Suddenly, he heard the booming footsteps of a large Cabal. He stepped out from behind the dumpster to meet a colossus and a dozen legionaries. Zahir froze. They were cornered, and the Cabal knew it. The colossus chuckled, dropping its gun. The others kept their guns raised. It marched toward Zahir, rolling its massive shoulders. Lacer struggled to stand up, still being healed by his ghost.

The colossus reached for Zahir, but before it could grab him, a giant, orange light rose in the distance.

Zahir couldn't see from behind the Cabal, but he heard a familiar, booming voice.

"Traveler! Do you see me now?"

The cabal cheered, all turned around by now, besides two legionaries that remained fixated on the guardians.

"I am a god! Immortal! Witness the dawning of a new age!"

The orange light began to fade into white.

"Damn it. It's all over." Lacer muttered under his breath. Zahir looked over at his friend, saddened. Lacer wasn't one to give up.

The white light got brighter. Ghaul said something else, but it was too quiet to make out.

Then, Ghaul yelled in terror.

"What the hell is going on up there?" Zahir thought to himself, before everything was enveloped in white.

Zahir was confused at first. As the light cleared, he felt a sudden surge of power going through his body. Had the guardian done it? Did they win?

The absence of orange light and the traveler's shell in pieces gave him the answer he needed. The light was back. He'd missed it. He looked over at Lacer, who had stood up. They nodded at each other as the Cabal turned around, realizing what had happened. Zahir could see the terror in their eyes as the two leaped into the air, arc energy erupting from their fists.


	17. The Return

"I know this is sudden, but why Mars? Why now?" Crucius inquired, appearing at Zahir's side.

Zahir said nothing.

"Look, we haven't talked in a while, I get it, but we can't be silent forever. Well, Ikora and her ghost can, but I'm not like her ghost." Crucius went on, attempting to alleviate the tension.

Zahir moved over, letting ice fall off of the martian cliffside.

Crucius finally had enough. "You've had enough alone time, Zahir, we NEED to talk!" Crucius burst out, zooming over to Zahir's head. He had never been so angry at anyone his entire life. Crucius cared about Zahir, but he couldn't stand being ignored by him. For almost a year now, Zahir had said nothing to Crucius, and Crucius had only talked to give reports.

"Zahir, I get that it's been hard on you, but you have a duty. As a guardian. You haven't done any missions in months. You abandoned your scouting party. You skipped out on the conflict on Mercury." Crucius continued.

Then, Zahir finally spoke back.

"Crucius, did you know that I would go through this much suffering when you brought me back?"

Crucius was taken aback, he didn't know what to say. He floated there for what seemed like hours.

Finally, as the sun set on the Hellas Basin, Crucius replied "No, I didn't know-didn't mean for you to go through all of this. I had worries, of course, however, I never wanted you to go through as much as you have. I didn't know you were still grieving. I thought Uxar would be the worst of it."

"Why was I even brought back? All I've ever done is steal Hive junk and see people die." Zahir rested his helmet beside him, holding his forehead.

"The Red War was different." Zahir began, "Uxar was my mentor, a great one, and he died heroically, but Kale and Heather were the best and closest fireteam I could ask for. They didn't deserve to go out like they did. I should have stayed with them. And Eltanin… I lead her to her fate. It's my fault that I had her use her ghost. It's all my fault, and I feel horrible."

"I know."

Zahir stood up, walking to the abandoned train behind them. The roars of the grasp of Nokris howled in the distance.

"Where are you going?" Crucius asked, trailing behind Zahir.

"This place doesn't remind me of them. It reminds me of myself."

"You won't gain anything out of isolating yourself."

"Doesn't matter."

Another call from Lacer. Crucius took this one himself.

"Oh."

Zahir stood in the sand awkwardly, clutching several Cabal communication tablets in his arms. Crucius popped up, transmatting them away.

"Zahir." Lacer said, his ship flying away, into Mars' orbit. "I've been looking everywhere for you.

Crucius, remained in front of Zahir, slowly turning away from both of the titans.

Zahir sighed, looking down. He didn't want to face Lacer yet, not with the way he was.

"I know why you'd be here. It was the last place I would have guessed, but it all makes sense now." Lacer continued, walking toward Zahir.

Zahir backed away.

"If you want to get better, you have to face your past." Lacer said, beginning to shout.

"Head on!" Lacer sent his fist crashing into the side of Zahir's helmet, knocking him into the dirt. Sand kicked up around them.

Lacer picked Zahir up by the collar of his chestplate. Zahir made an effort to look away, toward the ground.

"I'm sorry, but you need to leave me." Zahir choked.

Lacer groaned as Zahir sat up. His sleek black armor reflected Zahir's slowly mending helmet as he looked back toward Lacer.

"Look, boss. I have some free time, so let's have a hamburger, talk it out. For old time's sake? It's been forever. Glimmer's on me."

"I can't. I rarely go back. It just reminds me..."

"Listen to me! You're tougher than this! Did you curl up in a corner like this after Ghaul's attack?"

"I didn't."

"You've learned, Zahir. You've learned to deal with loss better than anyone, so why is it getting to you now?!"

Zahir gazed at Lacer behind his helmet.

"Lacer, it hurt. Knowing that I reduced our scouting party from eight to five. I couldn't do anything about the guys we lost during the attack, but I feel personally responsible for those three. Eltanin, Vira, Garret. I think about it every day, what I could have done."

Lacer let go of Zahir.

"I accepted the others because there was nothing I could have done. I watched them die, helplessly, or I found them dead. But I led those three to their deaths or decomissions. I'm a horrible person." Zahir's voice was a mess now.

Lacer looked out on the frosted landscape, then back to Zahir.

"Come on, we're going." Lacer said, grabbing Zahir by the arm and pulling him up. "You won't get me killed on this dinner run, we'll be fine." He joked.

Zahir chuckled.

"I don't know if I can do it."

No answer. Only the feeling of Zahir's body being dissolved responded.

Zahir felt his legs reappear, then his torso.

Finally, he laid eyes on the tower courtyard. It had been ten months since the Red War ended, since Zahir lost what hope he had left. Two months since Zahir retreated to Mars, and isolated himself from the tower. The broken tower lay in view to the right, looming overhead as a dark reminder. Zahir felt his chest tighten. He began needlessly breathing heavily.

Crucius appeared at his side, as he had done so many times before.

"Don't worry, Zahir. I'm here for you." Crucius said warmly, guiding Zahir forward.

"We'll make it through this. You'll get better. I'll make sure of it."

Zahir's optics tightened. He speed-walked over to the railing, leaning over it as hard as he could.

"Hey, don't worry. I know it's tough." Crucius called, floating over to Zahir.

"I can't." Zahir whispered, choked.

Just then, Lacer stepped out from the pathway to the Bazaar.

"Just on time, Lacer."

"Anything for a friend of mine." Lacer replied, smiling.


	18. Responsibility

"Consider it denied." Zahir promptly said, walking out of the hall.

"Wait." Crucius interrupted, materializing in front of him. "Listen, I arranged for this to happen. I know I may not understand you completely, but we do have a neural connection. I know you need this. Just think about it."

"That's not- no, I can't."

"Titan." Zavala's voice boomed from the end of the hall, "I know guardians have personal lives and feelings, but we are hurting after the Red War, so please. If you can find it in your heart to mentor this young titan, take her in."

Zahir stopped, squeezing his eyes shut. Crucius floated behind him, spinning his shell in anticipation.

"Fine." Zahir sighed.

The titan, who had been standing by Zavala, jumped up, silently cheering. She ran over to Zahir as Crucius moved out of the way.

"I look forward to learning from you, sir!" The titan exclaimed, her brown hair settling onto her shoulders. "My name's Bronze. My ghost picked it out for me. He doesn't have a name, though." She continued, holding out her palm.

Bronze's ghost materialized in her palm. Its shell was wide and pointed, colored light brown.

"Eyyy." Her ghost said, slowly raising its eye as it disappeared.

"He's a bit shy." Bronze said, pulling her hand back.

"She's all yours. I trust you will make a good titan out of her." Zavala called, "we've also arranged for her to live in your apartment complex, to make things easier."

Just as suddenly as it began, the excitement fell. Zahir looked down at Bronze with his indecipherable metal face. He didn't know what to feel. He hadn't spoken to anyone but Crucius since the last time he had hung out with Lacer six months ago, who was busy scouting the newly open reef.

"Well, nice to meet you, Bronze, I'm-"

"Zahir, I know." Bronze finished.

"Well, I guess your training begins tomorrow. Meet me on Mar-" Crucius poked Zahir's head with his shell. "Meet me in the EDZ, Trostland, tomorrow at noon."

Zahir walked out of the hall before any more conversation could be held, much to Crucius' dismay.

"Don't worry, buddy, I can handle it, I hope." Zahir whispered.

"Easy, we just need to get some ether tanks from fallen. I want you to locate any fallen squad in the area, as we can probably salvage enough from a single raiding group." Zahir ordered, leaning over Bronze's shoulder to inspect the patrol beacon she had taken out of the earth.

"On it, boss!" Bronze agreed, pulling out her ghost as Zahir reeled back. The only guardian to call him boss before Bronze was Lacer.

"What an odd thing to call me." Zahir thought to himself.

Zahir felt a confusing sense of longing. If he had to be perfectly honest, he enjoyed Lacer's company, but would rather be alone. So why did he suddenly miss Lacer?

His thoughts were pushed aside by Bronze looking up at Zahir expectantly with her ghost out. "I found reports of fallen clashing with Cabal at their firebase down West." Bronze said, examining a map. "Looks like we're headed that direction, anyway. Let's go!"

"Cabal? Uh, I don't know if we want to fight Cabal." Zahir stuttered.

"Don't you always hang out on Mars?" Bronze asked.

"Yeah, but... I didn't fight them often." Zahir had avoided the Cabal as much as he could. The Red Legion infuriated him. Infuriated him beyond belief.

"C'mon, you told me to find fallen, and I did. So let's go!" Bronze pulled Zahir's arm. He was a few inches taller than her, but her strength made him stumble over. "Alright, alright." Zahir said, complying. "We'll go."

Zahir reached behind his back, grabbing Crucius' shell, who was pushed up against Zahir's chestplate. "Why are you hiding there?" Zahir asked.

"No reason." Crucius said, summoning Zahir's sparrow next to him. Bronze smiled under her helmet.

"Hey boss..."

"You can call me Zahir." Zahir stated, pulling his leg over the seat of his sparrow.

"Zahir, I don't have a sparrow."

He froze, fists gripping the handlebars. "That means we gotta walk then. It's going to be a long day." He sighed.

Bronze laughed as she walked over to Zahir's sparrow. Crucius watched, barely able to contain his laughter.

"Here you go." Zahir grunted, piling several deep blue books onto Bronze's expectant arms. "For now, I want you to read the book on top. It'll give you a rundown of the different units our enemies send into battle. Hopefully you won't die as much if you know what's coming."

"Got it." Bronze said, looking down at the shiny cover reading "the Enemies of Humanity: a Guardian's guide." Two sticky notes taped together sealed a portion of the book closed.

Zahir took a step forward, causing the golden light of the setting sun to reflect off of his green body. "Hey, uh, don't look down. You did good for a first patrol run. I'll see you in two days."

Crucius saw Bronze beam as Zahir closed his apartment door.

Zahir stumbled over to his chair, practically falling into its leather embrace. He leaned his head against his hands.

"Bring back memories?" Crucius asked, appearing at Zahir's side.

"Yeah."

"Sorry."

"No, it's alright."

Zahir sat up, leaning back into his chair. He reached over to the table beside him, over two framed photos. He picked up the third, and brought it over.

The warlock Eltanin's arm stretched out of the picture, holding the camera. Behind her was Zahir, standing in front of a puddle of rain on Venus as he held a pile of drained ether tanks while Crucius transmatted them away.

"We should visit her." Crucius whispered.

"Zahir didn't respond, putting the picture away.

"Okay." Zahir sighed, dropping into the courtyard, "let's get your bounty."

Bronze excitedly followed behind a sluggish Zahir.

"I'm going to get something to eat. You can turn your bounties in to Zavala." Zahir said, pointing over to Zavala's post.

"Oh, okay then." Bronze said, somewhat disappointed.

Before the two could depart, Lacer walked into the courtyard from the Bazaar. He looked over at Zahir's direction and looked back, before noticing who he had seen and looking at Zahir again.

"Yo, boss! It's been forever!" Lacer yelled, causing Bronze to turn around. "Who's that? Got a girlfriend?"

"Good to see you, Lacer." Zahir replied, walking toward the Bazaar. Lacer shrugged, giving Zahir a pat on the back as he walked by before heading to the hangar.

"What are you eating there?" Bronze asked, taking the seat next to Zahir.

"Oh, Bronze. You didn't go home?" Zahir asked back.

"Nah, I need something to eat too." Bronze signaled one of the ramen shop employees over to the counter.

Bronze ordered a bowl of ramen as Zahir crunched through a dumpling.

"So who was that?" Bronze asked Zahir as he finished eating.

"Oh, Lacer? He was the right hand of my scouting team before I resigned. He still calls me "boss" for some reason."

"Why'd you resign?"

Zahir reached for another dumpling, asking a question back yet again.

"So you're only about a month rezzed. How do you feel? About your new life?"

"Me? Well, I guess I never really thought about it. I was freaked out when I was revived, but we didn't have much trouble getting to the city."

"Huh."

"Though, sometimes, I wonder why I was brought back. The traveler is awake, isn't it? Can't it tell me what my true purpose is? Am I here to protect humanity, or do I have a greater objective to fulfill? I dunno."

"That's... an interesting point."

"Yeah. Thank you!" Bronze said to an employee, receiving a bowl of ramen.

Zahir looked at the traveler, its cracked shell swirling around its brilliant mass, then looked back, finishing his last dumpling.

"So." Zahir said to Bronze, "Do you want to hear about my time in the scouting party?"

Bronze nodded, slurping down a fork full of noodles.

They stayed a while.

Zahir took his head away from the sniper rifle, dropping it to the dirt.

"Uh oh." Crucius said, looking over at Zahir, who had begun running down the hill.

"Wait!" Crucius cried out, transmatting the sniper away.

Bronze grappled with the large captain, who had knocked her rifle out of her hands.

Zahir was back in twilight gap. He saw Uxar, being held back by two vandals.

Bronze knocked the captain to the side with a punch, who went on all sixes and skittered around the rock.

"It won't happen, I'll save him this time. It won't." Zahir said to himself, frantically.

Zahir saw the red clad archon stepping in front of his mentor, blades above its head.

"No!"

Zahir felt every inch of his body surge with power. All of his energy, his panic, jumped from head to toe. He launched himself off of the ground with an explosion of arc.

"I'll make it this time." Zahir thought, thrusting both of his fists out in front of him. He hurled through the air, straight for the captain.

Like a missile.

Zahir came soaring into the captain's side. He wrapped his arms around its body. The captain roared in pain as it was carried away from Bronze. Zahir kept going, until he sent the trapped captain into a nearby boulder.

As the arc energy cleared, bits of rock flew from the impact zone. There was no trace of the captain.

Zahir stepped out from the dust cloud he had made. He ran toward Bronze, arc energy dissipating off of his armor.

He held Bronze by the shoulders, who was on her back after being knocked away from the captain.

"Bronze? Are you alright!?" Zahir yelled, shaking her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. What's up with you? I had that." Bronze answered, crossing her arms as she sat up.

Behind his helmet, Zahir's intensely glowing eyes began to dim.

"I uh... thought you didn't have him..."

Zahir let go of Bronze, looking away as Crucius flashed out.

"Hey, I think it's time I told you a story." Crucius whispered, leading a confused Bronze away as Zahir sat on the rock Bronze and the dusk captain had previously been fighting on.

Zahir stared out at the vast lake ahead of him. The tall trees of the EDZ loomed over the clearing.

All he could think of was memories of Uxar.

Zahir buried his head in his hands.

"Not again."


	19. A Dawning Surprise

"Happy dawning, bud!" Lacer said, standing at Zahir's door. He held a sizable wrapped package in front of him.

"Oh, uh... I don't have a gift, I wasn't planning-"

"That's fine, man. Now lemme in, I'm freezing here."

Lacer let himself into Zahir's apartment, taking a seat on his couch. A cooking show was playing on the tv. A well dressed exo pushed buttons on an oven. As Zahir began to walk over, the doorbell rang.

"And there she is." Lacer said, pointing to the door as he changed the channel to show a crucible match.

Zahir opened the door once more to meet a heavily clothed Bronze, clutching a present as well, with a pan holding a roast above it.

"Hey, Zahir. Mind if I come too?" Zahir stepped to the side letting her in. Bronze set her things on the countertop, walking over to the tv to inspect the crucible match. The screen flashed a brilliant blue, and Lacer cheered.

Zahir walked over to the roast. He peeled back the plastic wrap, checking its temperature.

As Zahir's oven door closed, he went over to the other two titans, leaning down next to the couch.

"You see that hunter, Keno-8?" Lacer called out, pointing to a speedy guardian bursting down a lane, blocky pulse rifle in hand. "He's really making a name for himself, can't wait to see where he goes."

"Huh." Bronze said, as the feed switched to a warlock, jumping into the air to channel a nova bomb. After a flash of purple energy, the match was over.

"Alright." Lacer said, clapping his hands, "we've got important business."

Lacer took the package next to him off of the couch - no - it was two packages. One completely dwarfed the other. He took the smaller package, handing it to Zahir.

The package was wrapped in blue paper, printed snowflakes dotted the surface. Zahir peeled back the wrapping, revealing several packets of seeds.

"Hope you'll be able to wait "till gardening season." Lacer said, handing over the next package, wrapped in red. Suddenly, Lacer's face grew serious.

"I went to check on Eltanin, told her you still weren't ready to see her, but she seemed a bit happier. She had a present for you."

Zahir froze as the package entered his green exo grip. He stared at the gift. Bronze looked confused. The wrapping paper was slightly worn, and sure enough, a small tag on its corner read: "To Zahir-2, from Eltanin."

He gingerly turned the package over, tucking it in his arm.

"Excuse me for a moment." Zahir said, walking down the hall from the living room. He opened a door, and came out a few seconds later without the gift in his arm. He instead held a long wooden box. He accepted a present from Bronze, handing the wooden box to her. He opened the gift to reveal a packaged ghost shell. The box art depicted a sleek green shell, matching the shade of Zahir's body.

"I'll take that." Crucius said, as he dissolved the box out of Zahir's hand, disappearing with it.

"Your turn." Zahir said to Bronze, who began to unlatch the box. She unhinged the cover, then pulled out a shiny orange Haake shotgun. Her eyes widened as she turned it around her hands.

"I used to get a lot of commissions from Haake. That one's all yours." Zahir said, pointing to the shotgun. Bronze put the shotgun back in the case, giving Zahir a quick hug and a "thank you." Zahir smiled under his faceplates, standing up.

"Now. I think we've got a roast to eat." Zahir walked over to the oven, checking the time.

"Thanks!" Lacer yelled from the street, waving at Zahir, who waved back from the door. Bronze waved as well in the distance, disappearing beneath a bridge.

Zahir shut the door, slowly walking over to his room. He took Eltanin's gift from his desk, sitting on his bed with the gift on his lap. He sighed, beginning to tear the wrapping away. He saw glass. What was beyond was covered in shadow for the time being. His chest tightened as he saw a piece of tape over the glass with the words "First gun." Written on in marker. An envelope fell to his lap as he continued to open the gift.

The last of the wrapping fell away, revealing the deep blue hand cannon within the glass case. The same hand cannon he'd trained Eltanin with. The same hand cannon-

Zahir shook his head, taking the envelope into his hand. He slipped his finger behind the seal, pulled out a card, and began reading.


	20. Brothers

The splash of several metal shards meeting a pool of water echoed throughout the cave, ceasing the chaos that it followed. Tivik, Guardian Killer, holstered a mysterious arc weapon, letting go of the neck of a guardian. He stepped away from the Taken blight, recovering his senses.

Tivik knelt over the dead Warlock, brandishing a shock blade. He deactivated it, its arc engulfed blade simmering to nothing. He plunged its dead metal into the ground, next to the Warlock's head. The blight creeped around the mud and water, licking at the Warlock's submerged arm. He took a small knife from a pouch on his heavy belt, carving into the blade's hilt in Eliksni.

"Another clean kill." Tivik stood up, looking over his handiwork. Orange clad Fallen slunk out of the shadows, appearing from behind pillars and rocks. "Another dead guardian, to the name of Tivik, Guardian Killer!" He raised his wire rifle up high, prompting the Fallen to cheer. Clicks, hisses, and roars filled the cavern in the dead silence of the EDZ night.

"Noxis." Tivik called a Captain, nodding over at a string of dead Fallen done in by Taken slugs, arc rounds, and whatnot. "Begin the burials." Noxis nodded, and began issuing orders to the crew. He would request more troops the next day. The Taken were a nuisance to his plans, but a necessary one. As his crew began to move about the cavern, scooping up dead Eliksni, Tivik went back to the Warlock. He fished the shards of a ghost from out of a puddle, draining the water through his claws and storing them in a pouch on his belt. He then took hold of the guardian's arm, beginning to wrestle his bond loose.

"Tivik?" An Eliksni voice called from the cave entrance, startling the mercenary. A set of eyes peered at Tivik from the shadows. It was an Eliksni.

"You… are?"

"Vyksis."

Tivik relaxed. "Ah, dear younger brother! Come, it has been long."

Vyksis crept forward, his colors still under cover by the darkness of the night.

"You joined House Dusk?" Tivik guessed, slinging his wire rifle onto his back.

"I did not."

"I see, then you became a free agent. He concluded, taking a closer look at Vyksis' dark figure. "Upon closer inspection, you do not bear the armor of House Dusk."

Vyksis nodded. "I came here to reason."

"Reason?" Tivik asked, expectantly.

"I see you have begun to fulfill your title, Guardian Killer."

"I have. It is rewarding. Did you wish to join me? Together, I believe we could fulfill our-"

"No... I plead you… to stop." Vyksis knelt, "stop your rampage, brother. The guardians do not deserve death by your hand. I have been working with them. I believe they are the true bearers of the Great Machine."

"Stop? Why would you, of all Eliksni, plead for me to stop the killing of our enemy? And… why would you align yourself with them?" Tivik lurched forward, agitated, then calmed himself. He couldn't put a bad image in front of his crew. His throat groaned as he breathed out, slowly. "Vyksis. Remember our hope. Our hope to retake the Great Machine, and perhaps be blessed by it instead. We hoped that it would see the Eliksni and see us as worthy wielders of the light at last."

"You have twisted that vision."

"No! Stop! YOU are the one who has twisted our vision. Do you not remember father? He was slaughtered in cold blood by a guardian as we watched. How could you sympathize with them, after all they've done?" Tivik grew angry again, stepping closer to Vyksis' shrouded form.

"And how can I fathom being forgiven by the very same guardians, after we've killed so many of their kind as well? Tivik, think about this. We are not too different from humanity. We have both lost much, both to the darkness and to each other. Brother… I have not abandoned our dream, but I believe that our path to blessings is through respecting the Great Machine's decision. We should rally under it and the ones it chooses. Only then shall we see the Eliksni in a golden age."

"Foolish child! The only path is to usurp humanity. The Great Machine will have no choice but to turn to us. You have desecrated our hope! Father did not die for this!"

Vyksis stood still, contemplating. "Tivik. I do not intend to undermine our dream of being blessed by the Great Machine. However… consider the stories of the whirlwind we were told as children. With no guardians, such a thing may happen again at any time. Consider the Eliksni in an alliance with humanity. I have done so, as Misraaks(Mithrax) has done so. Consider your actions. I believe you are the misguided not let your ambition be your end." Vyksis braced himself.

"I will not hesitate to cut down a traitor to out where he stands, even if he is my own brother! Show your colors! Your filthy cape! Your tainted armor!" Tivik retorted, ignoring Vyksis' pleading and drawing his remaining shock blade, its arc revealing Vyksis' Vanguard decorated armor. His crew jeered in contempt at the sight, flashes of arc dotting the dark cave as shock knives danced around. Tivik growled in fury and disappointment.

"It is not my place to challenge you. I know you are stronger than I. You have already grown to the size of an archon." Vyksis retreated back into the shadows. "However. Lay a hand on the ones I treasure, and I will ensure you pay. You may already have a target on your back, brother, but not by me. Be wary."

Tivik was furious. Had Vyksis been brainwashed? How could he have made acquaintances of the city?" Tivik stepped forward, shaking his bottom two fists as he growled and waved the shock blade in the air. Vyksis began to crawl away, clutching the Vanguard emblem on his helmet.

"Come back, Vyksis! Coward!"

But Vyksis had already gone, outcast by his older brother. The glow of his eyes had left the cave. Tivik spat in seething hatred. Not for Vyksis, but for humanity. Noxis had gone up next to him, shrapnel launcher in hand.

"Shall we pursue?" The Captain asked, a pair of Vandals lumbering behind him.

"No. Leave my brother be. If he shows his face again," Tivik brushed his hands across the trinkets dotting his belt and bandolier, drumming his claws on a canister. "I will kill him myself." Something crept up Tivik's chest, tightening his throat. Was it… sadness? No. Tivik shook his head. He had no sympathy for the deserter that his brother had become. All he had to feel now was pure anger.

Tivik walked back to the warlock, continuing with the bond. He pulled it loose and turned it around his hand. Silver colored. Studded. He took the bond to his own arm, sliding it atop another. Two bonds adorned his upper right arm. He moved his lower arms to his hip, feeling at the torn titan mark he bore. His upper arms felt at his neck. The orange hunter cloak he stole was secure. His collection would only grow from here.

"The burials are secure. The skiff has been called." Noxis told Tivik, back at his side.

"Good. Has an outpost been found?"

"We will receive a report tomorrow morning."

"I see. Send crews to the Shore. We will meet with Thourn tomorrow."

Noxis nodded, heading back to address the crew. Tivik would not stop to rest. There were many guardians to kill, and he felt that there was so little time.

Vyksis peered at the cave from atop a low cliff in longing. A bug flew by his head, its buzzing adding to the cacophony of forest creatures. A strange place, this planet was. Vyksis felt alone as he really was now. He had friends in the city, but his brother was all that was left of his family.

No. Tivik may have been his brother, but he had gone down a destructive path. Vyksis stood up, brushing the dirt off of his shin armor. To consider whatever creature he had spoken to as family would be a disgrace to himself. He had done all he could, but Tivik was long gone. At least, that is what he told himself to believe. Vyksis leaned over in thought. He would consider tonight a lamentation of his older brother, as Tivik buried his crew at the same time.


End file.
